They Met in New York
by PKNight
Summary: Lori and Jess, six years after Chapter 17. *Very* Alternate Universe Literati. Epilogue added.
1. Chapter 1

This is dedicated to my sister, who, while she generally thinks fanfiction is insane and scary, suggested this idea to me. So, blame her if you don't like it.

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They Met in New York

Part One:

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Chapter 1

New York, September 1999

The library was definitely not the most popular spot in the school. Most kids only bothered to go there when it was absolutely necessary and they couldn't avoid it, but he came here all the time. It was a great spot to escape the soap opera that was high school. All of the posturing and posing people did was enough to make him gag.

High school was already getting on his nerves and he was only a freshman. His friends, however few, from junior high had gotten sucked into the whirlpool of promised popularity, leaving him behind. Not that he really minded that much, especially since the alternative was to try and be popular along with them. Since that usually involved sucking up to people, he outright refused to try.

He'd just as soon keep his friends in the pages of books, thanks anyway. Less messy that way.

He moved into the stacks, going for his favorite author's section. The books were usually in the same order he'd last left them, which made it easier for him to remember which book he'd read last. To his surprise, there was someone else browsing through the shelves. A girl, to be specific. She had long brown hair, with several red streaks dyed into it at what appeared to be random intervals. She was looking at the bookshelves without expression. Since she hadn't seemed to notice his presence, he decided not to say anything.

She finally bent down to take a look at the lower shelves and he studied her. She was definitely a looker; slim, tall, and very well built. Her clothes weren't overly odd: jeans that looked just a bit too tight, staying with current fashion, and a tank top. However, to comply with school rules she had a man's white dress shirt over the tank top.

"Ah-ha!" The triumphant noise startled him, and he jumped back slightly. She looked up, suddenly aware of his proximity, and he nearly felt it physically when her eyes met his. They were bright warm blue, but there was a slight chill deep within. "I'm sorry!" she said, standing quickly. "I didn't know anyone else was here. I thought this place was dead." 

"So did I," he said. There was a pause. "I don't know you, do I?"

"No." She shook her head. "I just moved here. This is my first day, and I wasn't up to trying to find a place to sit in the cafeteria."

He shrugged. "I don't blame you. It can be pretty daunting. So where'd you move from?"

"Maryland," she said. "I was raised there. I like New York, though. I just haven't gotten used to it yet." He nodded. "What about you?"

"Born here," he said. "I think I'm one of the only native New Yorkers I know."

"Cool," she said in response. Then he noticed the book in her hand.

"What'd you pick out?" he asked, turning his head to try and get a look at the title.

"Oh. Uh…The Fountainhead."

He visibly winced. "Ouch. What class are you reading that for?"

She smiled very slightly at his expression. "No class. I love Ayn Rand. No one can write a forty page political monologue like she can."

"Who would want to?" he demanded, making a face. "I don't know how you can like that crazy lady. She's a nut."

"Oh, really?" she asked, the slight smile being replaced with a small frown. She cocked her hip and propped her hand on it. "And have you even read any of her books, smart-ass?"

"I read _that _book when I was twelve," he said, more amused than offended, and pointed at the volume in her hands.

"Oh," she said.

He moved down the aisle, nudging her out of the way and reached down to grab a book. "Now this," he said, holding up the copy for her to see, "is a book worth reading."

"The Sun Also Rises?" It was her turn to make a face. "Blech. His writing is so…painful for me to stagger through."

"And have you ever tried?"

"Yes, I have. I tried to read it just last year, and I still couldn't slog my way through the mush. So there." She actually stuck her tongue out at him, and he began to smile. 

"So, you're a big reader?"

She shrugged. "I guess so. I'm also a writer."

"Novels?"

"I stopped trying about two years ago, after failing miserably every time to actually write something good. No, I'd rather be a reporter. Reporting on the late-breaking and hard-hitting news stories. Fast-paced."

"Huh," he said, studying her up and down.

"What about you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his survey.

"What about me?"

"What do you do besides read?"

"As little as possible." He blew out a breath. "Avoid the insipid masses, for one. But for recreation, I tend to just read." No way was he going to confide that he wanted to be a novelist to someone he'd just met. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" she countered, sounding suspicious.

"Jess," he said.

She held out her hand. "I'm Lorelai." He looked skeptical, and didn't reach out his hand to shake. "What?" she demanded.

"Are you going to sing me to a crashing death on the rocks?" he asked. "Come on. What's your real name?"

She studied him for a long moment. "You know what Lorelei are?"

"It's not that difficult to know about fatal mythical creatures."

"Most people don't know. But, anyway, it's not spelled like that. It's L-O-R-E-L-A-I. The creature is E-I."

"I know how to spell it," he grumbled. "Let me see your school ID."

"Okay," she sighed. "But I warn you, the picture's terrible." She handed over the laminated card.

"I'll be damned," he said, and refrained from confirming her opinion of the picture. "That is your name. Well, sorry for the disbelief. It's nice to meet you, Lorelai." He finally held his hand out to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Jess," she said, shaking.

They stood in silence for a long moment. "So…" he said, groping for a topic. "What's your schedule like?"

She shrugged. "So far it's okay. I have PE first thing, then a biology class. Then I've got geography, and American Literature. I have this period off for lunch. And next I have…aw, shoot, I can't remember." She dug into her pocket for a much-folded piece of paper. "This says I've got…Honors English next, then World History, and finally math."

Jess grabbed the paper out of her hands and studied it. Then he chuckled. "You're not going to believe this, Lorelai Collins, but we have the exact same schedule after lunch."

"Really?" she asked, taking the paper and studying it. "Cool. At least I'll know someone in these classes." She smiled up at him, and to his surprise a faint blush began staining her cheeks. "I mean, you know, so I can borrow notes to catch up, and stuff."

He smiled. She was really very cute. Maybe he could ask her out. "Yeah. Of course. Just for the notes." He turned and began walking towards the end of the aisle. "Come on. I want to talk to you some more, maybe explain a little about what's what around here. But let's be comfortable while I do."

"Uh, okay?" Her voice followed him, as he heard her doing a second later. He led her to a circle of couches, still in good condition since no one used the library. "Oh, this is nice," she said, falling onto one of the couches, one of her legs over the arm. "I wish my library back home had something as comfortable as this to sit in."

"Yeah. It's a great reading spot. Very quiet, unless some rude people are talking." He smiled at her. "So. Let's hear more about Lorelai."

She shifted slightly on the couch, and began fiddling with the buttons on her shirt. "Uh…what do you want to know?"

"Well, first of all, how your parents came up with that name."

"I'm named after my mother," she said, looking at the floor.

"Really?" he asked. "What was her name?" She glowered at his bad joke. "I'm kidding!"

"I was hoping. Otherwise any hope for intelligent conversation flew right out the window." She demonstrated, making a "whoosh!" gesture with her hand.

"Difficult when there's no windows in here," he said. He was about to ask her another question when the bell rang. She flew off the couch, checking her watch. "Okay. So the bell goes off three minutes late, by my watch. Good to know."

"I'll walk you to class," he said. "Do you have a locker you need to go to?"

"Nope, not yet," she said. "I'd have nothing to keep in it, even if I had one. I'm supposed to check with the office after school today, and they'll assign me one."

"I don't know if there are any empty," he said as they emerged into the busy hallway. He gestured around at the many kids opening their lockers and chattering to their friends. "If you have to share with someone, I'll volunteer. I'd hate for someone to get stuck with someone like that—" he gestured at a guy in a letter jacket who was currently trying to stuff even more paper into his over-full locker— "for a locker mate. For the record, I only use mine for books, so there's no reason for it to be messy."

"Thanks," she said, watching in horror as the paper stack inside the jock's locker fell out, covering the immediate vicinity and someone kneeling to get into the locker below. "I _really_ appreciate it."

"My pleasure," he said. They walked down a few more corridors until he gestured at a door. "Through there," he said, pointing. "Save me a seat, okay? I need to go get my stuff."

He was back within minutes, and saw Lorelai holding a desk by propping her feet up on the chair next to her. She smiled at Jess and removed her feet. He made a mocking show of inspecting the seat and pretending to brush it off before he sat down.

"This class is actually not that bad, as far as classes go. The text book is huge," he added, showing her the four-inch thick book, "but it's a class for those who want to be here." 

"So, can I share your book?" she asked. He smirked back.

"I have no complaints about it. The teacher might, but screw him." She laughed. It was the first time he'd heard her laugh, and he sensed something sad in it. In fact, she seemed sad in general. But she was obviously taking pains to hide it, so he wasn't going to mention it. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the other students file in, most of them giving interested looks Lorelai's way. However, most ignored the fact they had a "new kid" as it wasn't too unusual.

The teacher came in, set his briefcase down on the desk, and waited for the bell to ring. "Well, here we all are again," the man said. "But with one new edition to the class. Would Miss Lorelai Collins please come up to the front?"

Lorelai put her head in her hands as everyone looked back towards her. Jess smirked harder at her rueful, but quiet, groan. She sighed as she stood and walked to the front of the room. She stood in front of the class, looking over the heads of her classmates.

The teacher cleared his throat. "Well, Lorelai," he tried prompting her. "That's an unusual name. Please, tell us a little about yourself."

"Well," she began, twisting her hands together in front of her. "Uh, I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland until last week, when I found out I was moving here. I like New York, so far."

She fell silent. "Is that all?" the teacher asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," she said, nodding.

"Oh, come now. There must be something else. Where'd you get your name?"

"It's a family name," she said, her voice almost expressionless.

"Very well," the teacher sighed. "You can sit down. And you will share Mr. Mariano's book for the day. I'm Mr. Gerald. Welcome to Honor's English."

"Thank you," she said politely, and hurried back to her seat. The teacher immediately launched into his lesson. "God, I hate that," she whispered to Jess. "It's so humiliating. I can never think of what to say."

"You did fine," he said comfortingly, and patted her hand. She looked down briefly and blushed, but when she looked up again she was also smiling.

"Thanks," she whispered. They looked at each other for a while before she added reluctantly, "I guess we should pay attention to the class." 

Fifty minutes later, they were out of that room and headed for another: their freshman World History course. "Can you say 'overview'?" Jess said sardonically, leading Lorelai through the halls. "I mean, we've already zoomed over Mesopotamia and Sumeria."

"I take it you don't like History," Lorelai said.

"It can be fun, at times," Jess replied. "Hold up," he added, pulling her out of the main path. "This is my locker. Possibly yours, too, if you're lucky." He grinned at her as he spun the dial on his combination lock. He stowed the English text in the locker, and grabbed an oversized book. "This thing is a bitch to carry home," he said. "It's even worse than that monster." He knocked on the cover of the English book.

"I can't wait," Lorelai said dryly.

"Just make sure you buy a good strong backpack, and there won't be anything to worry about."

"Or we could do our homework together at lunch, and never have to worry about lugging the books home." 

"Huh," he said, giving her an appraising look.

She tilted her head at him. "What?" 

"I'd had you pegged as a goody-two-shoes," he answered. "Hair color not withstanding," he added, reaching up to tug gently on one of the red stripes in her hair.

"I have just as much aversion to homework as does any other student," she said. "Besides, if we did it at lunch, we'd have the perfect excuse for being in the library together." He considered asking why she thought they needed an excuse, but discarded the idea.

"So why did you do that to your hair?" he asked, slamming his locker.

"Whim," she said. "One of the only things I came up with in my fiction days was this girl who had red and black striped hair from a genetic mutation. This is, of course, in the future. And I wanted to see how I'd look with red stripes in my hair. I guess it just kind of stuck."

"It looks good on you," he said, not looking at her, sure that she would be blushing.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Oops, warning bell," he said. "Gotta hoof it or we'll be late for your first day of class!" He grabbed her wrist and began pulling her in his wake.

"Wouldn't want that, would we?" He almost laughed at her sarcasm, a chuckle explaining. They sat together again, also at the back of the classroom. And again, Lorelai was treated to the "new student introduction." She plowed through it, using almost the same speech as she had in English. Jess was smirking as she sat down.

"Didn't you have to do that for your first classes?"

"I did," she nodded. "Where do you think I came up with that oh-so-very succinct sentence in the first place?"

"Well, then, you'll have that down pat for math," he said.

"Please tell me the math teacher is one of those who just teaches and takes no interest in their student's lives?" she asked desperately.

"Quite the opposite, actually," he answered. "This particular teacher likes to use his students in his lessons. One girl is into horses, and her family owns a ranch, so he did one problem about grain production and storage. It was interesting. If you like math."

"It's not really my thing," she said. "I mean, I can do it okay. I just prefer not to have to. How about you?"

"I do okay." He shrugged. "But mostly I can do without it. As long as I can balance a checkbook, I think I'll do fine." Or calculate the advances on my books, he thought with a private grin. It was a secret fantasy of his. Not that it would ever happen.

"That's pretty much my philosophy," she agreed. Not wanting to push their luck, they turned their attention to the teacher and the class. 

Afterwards, Lorelai talked to the teacher about what assignments she had to do to get caught up. The teacher told her to just get someone's notes. "You do take notes, right?" she asked Jess as she followed him to his locker.

"When the mood strikes me," he said. "But don't worry about it too much. You probably know everything anyway. So far we're just reviewing what we've learned in every other history class."

"Don't you just love the repetition that is school?" Lorelai asked. Then her eyes widened as she looked at the book he pulled out. "Do not tell me that's our math book!" she demanded.

"Nope. Complete works of Mark Twain." Jess smiled at her sigh of relief. He grabbed the actual math text and shut the locker. "This way, ma'am," he said. 

Their final class of the day was located in an out-of-the-way room with posters covering the walls. Most had something to do with statistics or numbers, but a few were funny.

"Or punny," Lorelai muttered to herself, grimacing at a particularly bad poster.

"Aren't they horrible?" Jess asked. "I guess exposure to them dulls the pain. After a time." They smiled at each other, then were interrupted when a young looking man came up to her.

"Hi," he said. "I'm your teacher, Mr. Lyle. Just so you know, I've been the new kid, and I know you've probably had to do those 'hi I just moved here' speeches in every other one of your classes. So you don't have to do one here. Just…be yourself." He turned and walked away, then spun back a few steps later. Pushing his glasses up his nose he said, "And I'll be testing you to see where you are in math."

"Oh," Lorelai said. "Uh, sure. No problem. Thanks," she added lamely, seeing a few more people in the class trickle in.

"Class, we have a new student," Mr. Lyle said. "Lorelai Collins. Glad you could join us. Now, moving on…"

After class, she could barely think with the pounding in her skull. "My head has never hurt so much," Lorelai said, holding her hand to the body part in question. "I think I'll go over to France just so I can use the guillotine to cut it off."

"Yeah, he does tend to wax enthusiastic over probability," Jess said. "Come on, just a little further and you can go home." He threw the last book into his locker gratefully.

"No, I can't," Lorelai said. "Not just yet, anyway. I've got to get a locker assignment, remember?" 

"I'll come with you. Volunteer ahead of time to be your locker partner."

"Thanks," she said for what felt like the millionth time that day.

The process only took about fifteen minutes, but it was enough that most of the student body had disappeared. Lorelai studied the suddenly empty parking lot.

"There's Janet," she said, pointing towards the appropriate car. "My ride," she explained.

"Friend?" Jess asked.

She bit her lip and hesitated a long moment before saying, "Foster parent."

Jess nodded. When he didn't say anything derogatory, or even act the least bit surprised, she smiled at him. "Thanks for showing me around today," she said. "And I guess I'll see you tomorrow in the library for lunch?"

"We'll do our homework," Jess promised, and watched her walk towards a slate blue Saturn. 

He turned towards his apartment, musing on this new person in his life. So, she was a foster kid, huh? That sort of explained some things, he thought. But would that also mean that she might be leaving soon if she gets shuttled off to another foster home?

He shrugged. She seemed like a good person and like she could be a good friend. Or, he thought, remembering his look at her in the library stacks, something more than a friend. Only time would tell.


	2. Chapter 2

**__**

Chapter 2

The two of them went about their morning routines separately, exchanging "hellos" in the hallways. Then they met for lunch in the library, where they worked on homework and got to know one another. 

This went on for a few months, the passing time being marked by change in the weather, going from hot late summer to biting chill of early, wet winter. With winter came the holidays. This bothered Jess, because he'd bought Lorelai a present. He was nervous about the present: on the one hand, he was sure she'd like it. But on the other…well, he just didn't get her sometimes.

She never talked about her life, or barely, anyway. The only anecdotes from her past were her first times reading certain books, or mocking her own attempts at fiction. The few times he'd tried to ask her about her parents or her other family, she just…froze. That was the only way he could describe it. Her face and voice lost all expression, and she became little more than a robot. The first time he'd asked a question she didn't want to answer, it had taken until nearly the end of the school day to get her to react to anything again. The second time, the façade had broken before the end of History, but it scared Jess enough that he didn't want to try again.

Not that he was overly chatty about his own life, but he wasn't afraid of it, like she seemed to be. He answered her questions if she asked them. He, his mother, and his father lived in an apartment that wasn't much. They'd lived in several different apartments, in varying degrees of "nice" all his life, in various parts of the city. He and his parents didn't have an extraordinary relationship one way or the other: they were both busy and working, but they didn't treat him badly.

On the last day before the Winter Break, they met in their usual spot. Lorelai had her backpack next to her on the couch and was reading Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Jess cleared his throat. "I believe your backpack has taken my seat," he said, startling her.

"Jess!" she said, exasperated. "I thought I told you not to do that any more!"

"You did." He smiled slightly. "Doesn't mean I listened."

"And you've just put your finger on the reason my bag is in your spot." She turned back to her book, smirking a little in triumph.

Jess went over and tossed her bag carelessly to the floor. "Hey!" she protested loudly.

"Shh! You want the librarian to come over here?"

"No." She bent and picked up her pack until it as right side up again. "You should be a little more careful with other people's things," she muttered.

He sat sideways on the couch, facing her, with what he was sure was a smirk on his face. She looked at him suspiciously. "What's that look for?"

"What look?"

"That 'feline in the aviary' look."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You're delusional." Nonetheless, he continued to smirk at her, the expression almost widening into a smile.

"Out with it," Lorelai snapped.

He shrugged, and let one of his hands slide behind him. "Guess what I'm hiding?" he said.

"I'm not in the mood for games, Jess. But, given you're _you_, I'll guess it's a book."

He let his face fall. "Okay. For not playing games, you're playing really well. Merry Christmas," he added, producing the present.

The surprise on her face was wonderful to him. Then she squealed happily and began tearing at the paper. "Oh, jeez. You're one of those freakish wrappers who doesn't leave one seam untapped, aren't you?" she demanded as she began ripping at the newspaper-wrapped present.

"I have confidence in your ripping abilities," he said. Finally, she got all the paper off the gift and she gasped.

"Oh, Jess, you shouldn't have!" she said, turning the book over and over in her hand. "I love it! I can't believe you found an old hardback edition of Anna Kerenina." She looked at the date in the front cover of the book. "Nineteen twenty!" She looked up at Jess with wide eyes. "Where did you find it?" 

Jess shrugged. "Just at this little second-hand bookstore. You know, I expect you to let me borrow that," he said.

"Are you kidding? This is never leaving my sight! This is a treasure!" She looked up at him, her eyes bright with happiness. Then she threw herself forward and hugged him around the neck. They stayed like that for long moments, reveling in the feel of each other.

She felt so good when she was around him. Safe, comfortable, happy. Like she hadn't been in a long time. Oh, she could pretend just fine, but to actually feel like she pretended was incredible. It didn't hurt that he was cute, nice…and he smelled good. She almost giggled at the thought, then breathed in the scent of soap and his leather jacket.

When they finally separated, Jess cleared his throat. "So, I was wondering. If you're not doing anything over the holidays, maybe we could hang out sometime. Catch a movie, or…hang out. Yeah."

"Go peruse bookstores," she said, smiling at his fumbling. It was very endearing.

"Yeah. Stuff." If he'd been standing, he would have scuffed the toe of his sneakers in the dirt, she thought.

"Sounds great," she said. Then she reached down in the bag and pulled out a wrapped present of her own, though not as thorough as his. But _she_ used real wrapping paper, so she figured that made up for it. "So, I'm not as picky a wrapper as you are," she said defensively as she threw it in his lap. "Doesn't mean the present isn't as good."

Jess tore open the paper without hesitation, and cocked his head to the side as he read the title. "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk?" He smiled up at her. "Cool. Thanks. You read it yet, or did you buy it on blind faith?"

"The second one," she said. Suddenly the bell rang, and they scurried to clean up the wrapping mess before heading to class.

  


~*~

  
The traffic flowed over the street in a fairly regular pace, while pedestrians hurried along their merry way. Lorelai saw this out the window of her new home, watching with the odd detachment she'd felt since August 14; the night her life was turned upside down and inside out.

When she'd been told where her foster home was, she'd had visions of ghettos, but that had just been her recent streak of pessimism acting up. The neighborhood Janet and Larry—her foster mother and father—lived in was actually quite nice. As run-down as was to be expected for a city like New York, with graffiti adorning some walls, but not all of them. The removal from all things familiar was almost a blessing; it helped soothe her feeling that she didn't know who she was any more.

The holiday break was beginning to get boring. Both her foster parents worked during the day, so she was left in an apartment she was only now getting used to. The computer only took up so much time, and she didn't really like it all that much to begin with outside of word processing programs. She had realized before that daytime TV sucked, but hadn't fully grasped that concept until sitting through two minutes of "Jerry Springer." After three days, even her books weren't helping to dispel the boredom. She'd degenerated to staring out the window and contemplating her lack of existence, which only served to depress her more.

Finally, she got fed up and called Jess. She'd memorized his number, originally calling him for homework, but progressing to calling him for any reason.

"Hello?" Jess answered.

"Save me," she said desperately.

"I knew you'd be calling me soon," he said smugly. "Cooped up in that large apartment with nothing to do."

"Tell me you have suggestions and aren't just rubbing my nose in the fact that I can't think of a single thing to do," she snapped.

"Oh, I've got a suggestion all right," he said. "Why not go out on the town?"

"I don't know too much about this 'town,'" she said mockingly. "Maybe I could convince a native to give me a tour?"

"Now where would you find one of those?" he mused.

"Well, one happened to scare me to death in the library a few months ago. Maybe I could call him."

"I think I know him, don't I?"

"I believe you're vaguely acquainted."

"Okay, let's stop. This is getting stupid."

"Getting?" She sighed. "Seriously, though. Care to show me some of your haunts?"

After making fun of her lingo, they decided to meet in front of the school in an hour. Lorelai stood and contemplated the weather visible out her window. Not too cold, but definitely not warm, either. She'd wear jeans, her good boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a sweater. "That should do it," she muttered to herself and got dressed.

She stood patiently in front of the school for several minutes before he showed up.

"Ugh," she said in greeting. "You realize you are late?"

"I am not," he said, hiking himself up to sit next to her on the cement wall. "I said an hour, and I meant an hour, not fifty-seven minutes. Lighten up, Collins," he added, nudging her ribs with his elbow.

"Sorry," she sighed. "I'm just a little cabin-feverish."

"I know the feeling," he said.

"No you don't," she retorted. "I mean, come on, you can always think of something to do. That's a benefit of having a creative mind." He had no reply for that, given that he spent most of his time writing. But he still hadn't told her that. Maybe he never would, he didn't know. "So, where are we gonna go?"

"My favorite places." He began to lead her away. "First," he said, leading her down to the underground, "we're taking the subway."

"I'm not a complete moron," she said, giving him an arch look. "I've taken the subway before."

"How many times?"

"Twice," she said with obvious pride. "Janet took me shopping one time and decided to take the subway both ways. Do not laugh at me!" She swatted him on the arm when he finally gave in to his desire to crack up.

"Jeez. But it doesn't matter. We'll turn you into a jaded New Yorker before you can say 'the Big Apple.'"

"The Big Apple," she responded.

"How original. Come on." He went through the ratcheting machine and waited for her on the other side.

"I hate those things," she complained after almost running through the arms. "I'm always afraid they'll stop working halfway through the loop and I'll be stuck there until someone comes along and fixes it."

"Don't worry," Jess responded. "If that ever happens I'll be right behind you to kick you clear."

"I'd appreciate that," she said, playing along.

They stepped onto the train but didn't spot any empty seats so they stood on opposite sides of a pole. Lorelai's fingers were turning white by the time the train actually took off. "Your hands are going to be numb," he noted. He reached down and began to pry the fingers of one hand off the pole. Just as they were separated, the train jostled a little scaring her, and she ended up gripping his hand tightly.

When she realized what had happened, she blushed and tried to pull away, but he just grinned and held on. They ended up holding hands all the way up to street level again. "Okay," she said slowly. "So, where are we going?"

"My favorite record store," he said.

They spent a good hour and a half going through the store's entire inventory of CDs, tapes and vinyl. "That was incredible," Lorelai said as they left, holding hands again. "My God, that was just amazing! I never knew places like that existed! Did you see that one guy's hair? How did he get it to stick up like that?"

"What I want to know is why would you want ringlets to stand up in the first place? He looked like he had a bunch of slinkies on his head."

"You're no fun," she said.

"Better be nice to the man who's buying you lunch," he said.

"Ooh, lunch," she moaned, holding a hand to her stomach. "I'm starving! Can we have coffee, too?"

"How did you get started on this coffee thing, anyway?"

"I have no idea," she said. "I just love it, and I've been drinking it as long as I can remember. My mom used to let me drink hers, and then I started stealing some when she made it for her and dad in the mornings…." She trailed off, and looked as if she was going to freeze up again. But she just sighed heavily and turned to face him, a falsely bright smile in place. "So, about that coffee?"

It was progress, he thought. And it was some information: she'd had both parents, at least for a while. "There's a coffee shop right down the road from where we're going," he told her.

To her surprise, he pulled her into a small take-out restaurant. "What do you want?" he asked her, gesturing at the multi-language menu.

"This is Chinese?" He nodded. "Ooh, lo mein noodles with sesame chicken. Oh, and a couple of eggrolls."

"Got it," he said and placed both their orders in, what seemed to Lorelai, record time. Within five minutes, they had a sack full of food. He gestured her ahead of him into a park, where he sat on a bench and opened the sack. Without hesitation he dug into the chow mein he'd gotten with spicy pork and stir-fried vegetables. Shrugging, Lorelai sat next to him and dug into her own food.

"This is really good," she said. "You know what would make this meal complete? Coffee."

He laughed, but didn't pause in his eating. When they were both done, they threw their trash away and opened their fortunes. "You are having a good day," Lorelai read. She frowned at the card. "That's not a fortune! That's a fact!" She grinned at Jess as he fished his piece of paper out.

"You are a quiet and unobtrusive person," he read. Lorelai let out a huge guffaw at that. "Dey don't know me vewy well, do dey?" he deadpanned, then threw the fortune into the trash with the rest of their wrappers.

"Why don't we just let them have their delusions," she said, still giggling slightly at the fortune. "Now, where's my coffee?"

He rolled his eyes but led her to a dimly lit café. The walls were copies of Monet paintings done on a large scale, but the atmosphere was friendly and arty. "This is cool," Lorelai said. Then she realized she was at the head of the line. "I'll, uh, have a large café mocha double espresso," she said, reading off of the menu.

"Do you ever sleep?" he asked her, appalled at the amount of caffeine in that drink.

"Not that I can remember, no," she said, accepting the steaming cup from the slightly harried looking college-age guy behind the counter.

"I'll have a chai, please," he said. "Medium."

"Chai?" she asked.

"It's a kind of tea. It's really good. You should try it."

"Uh, no thanks," she said dubiously, looking at the milky liquid in his mug. "I'll stick with coffee."

"You're a nut," he told her as they found a two-seat table.

"I know," she answered, and smiled at him as she took another drink of her coffee. "That's why I like Ayn Rand."

"Not that again!" Jess groaned. "Come on, I made that comment nearly three months ago! Let it die!"

"Never!" she said stubbornly. "I never, ever let things die. I will nit pick anything until it begs for death, and then I'll resurrect it and keep going." He gave her a long, hard look, and she shrugged. "What can I say? I like Ayn Rand."

Jess chose to say nothing.

  


~*~

  
At around seven that night, Jess walked her to her door. They'd never been to each other's houses before, and Lorelai still had no idea where he lived. She considered inviting him in, but thought better of it. She, and her foster parents still weren't quite sure of each other, and she didn't know how they'd react to find Jess in the apartment with her.

They stood awkwardly, she with her key in hand. "I had a lot of fun today," she said. "I can't believe how bad that movie was. And I can't believe you got us thrown out!"

"Hey, you were throwing that popcorn with me. The people below us didn't know what hit them. Admit it: it was fun."

She mock glared at him, and he attempted to smile winningly back. "I was never kicked out of a movie before I met you."

"Meaning your life was boring before you met me." He managed to supress the wince he felt, anticipated her freezing. Instead she smiled very slightly, and looked a little sad. But it was an expression, which was progress. "So…," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, desperate to change the subject. "I guess I'll see you later, huh?"

Suddenly she leaned forward and kissed him, very gently, on the lips. He was too shocked to react much, and by the time he had his hands out of his pockets she'd backed away, studying him nervously. He smiled broadly—and somewhat goofily—at her, and she smiled shyly back. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Later, I guess."

She turned and fumbled with the door, her hand shaking slightly. Laughing at herself, she finally managed to shove the door out of the way. "Uh, later, Jess," she said, standing in the open doorway.

"Yeah," he said. "Later, Lorelai."

He was still smiling when she closed the door on him. The smile turned into an idiotic grin as he made his way down her steps and away from her building.

The grin had faded into his usual bland expression by the time he reached his own apartment. He unlocked the four separate locks on the door and shoved it open. His neighborhood wasn't quite as nice as Lorelai's, a little more crime-ridden, but not as bad as many he'd seen in the city.

He grimaced down at the unswept linoleum floor, at the pieces of trash laying around where neither he nor his parents had bothered to pick them up. The apartment was empty except for him. His mom worked fairly regular hours, but she didn't get off work until nine. His dad worked insane hours with no set criteria, so he could be working until midnight or until five in the morning. Jess figured he should do something, so he sighed and began to pick up the various wrappers or scraps of paper around, shuddering at the thought of Lorelai coming into his apartment and finding it like this. A little messy was one thing; complete disarray another. The trash bag needed to be changed, so he did that, too.

When the apartment was vaguely presentable again, at least in what he liked to call the common room—kitchen, dining room and living room combined into one—he headed into his sanctuary, small though it may have been.

His room and the bathroom shared one side of the apartment; his parent's the other, with the common room in between. He stepped inside and immediately grabbed at his notebook and pen.

Mysteries were his thing right now. Preferably dark, dangerous mysteries. None of those parlor stories, where someone gathered all the info and solved it, this was gritty street crime. Thanks to his research, Jess knew how to pick a lock, tail someone without getting caught, and basic surveillance methods. His main character was the stereotypical cynical private eye. But Percival "Civil" Archer wasn't just any Sam Spade wannabe.

That's what he told himself, anyway.

After reading the last few paragraphs he'd written before Lorelai called, he continued writing, getting absorbed in the unfolding mystery, with all the twists, turns and dangerous cul-de-sacs Jess was just beginning to see.

Jess enjoyed everything about writing: the challenge of it, the thrill of making characters out of both people he knew and people he imagined. The shivery feeling he got when the dialogue in the scene came out just like it sounded in his head, when the descriptions flowed from his pen so smoothly he didn't notice time passing.

He was finally ripped out of his creative haze by the rumbling of his stomach and the ache in his hand. He knew he'd been writing a while, but he didn't realize quite how long before he looked at the clock and blanched that it read midnight. Shaking his head ruefully, he went to find something to eat.

His mother was sitting on the couch, asleep with the TV on. Funny, he hadn't heard her come in. "Mom," he said, shaking her gently. "Mom. Come on, mom, wake up." She groaned, yawned and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Jess. When'd you get home?"

"I've been home since seven," he said. He knew she thought it was a lie. She had this view of him that he was always staying out late and lying about it. Okay, so he did that sometimes, but not all the time. "Thought you might like to go to bed. You'll be more comfortable there," he added and went into the kitchen portion or the room. He looked in cupboards and the refrigerator before settling on microwave corn dogs.

"Yeah, I guess I will," Liz said after a while, shuffling past him into her own room. "Your father's not getting off work until three, so there's no use waiting up for him. Night, Jess."

"Night." He bit into the corn dog, already trying to get back into the story. Hell, he was on vacation.


	3. Chapter 3

**_

Chapter 3

_**

He emerged from his hibernation a few days later when he was hit with the brick wall of writer's block. One minute he was writing furiously—absently wishing he had a computer to type on, but liking the feel of a paper and pen beneath his fingers—and the next his pen was absolutely still. He stared at the half-blank paper, realizing he had no idea what to do next. Civil had just been attacked, but Jess didn't know what he was supposed to do next.

He tried to go over a few possible scenarios in his mind, but when he tried to write one out, the words wouldn't come.

__

Lack of human contact was the cause he finally arrived at. It couldn't be that he'd lost the story. It was just that he hadn't talked to anyone besides a few passing comments to his parents while they were home. He'd give Lorelai a call, see if she wanted to do something again.

A female who wasn't Lorelai answered the phone. "Hello?" 

"Uh, hi," he said, awkwardly; Lorelai had always answered the phone before. "Is Lorelai there?"

"Hold on a minute." Apparently Janet—that's who it had to be, after all—didn't cover up the phone. "Lorelai, there's someone on the phone for you. A boy."

"It's Jess," Lorelai said dismissively. Her voice was quiet, almost background noise, but he could hear it. "He's my friend from school. I told you about him."

"Oh," Janet said, a teasing note in her voice. "_That_ Jess." 

"Can I have the phone, please?" Lorelai asked, her voice getting louder.

"Of course," Janet answered.

"Jess?" Lorelai said into the receiver.

"Hey."

"Yep, it's definitely you. What have you been up to the last four days? Holed up in your room?"

The fondly exasperated tone of her voice gave him hope. "Well, yeah," he said. "What else did you expect from me?"

"Not much. So, what'd you call for?"

"Just wondering if you wanted to do something."

"Hold on," Lorelai said, sounding slightly disgruntled. "Two people are trying to talk to me at once." Jess heard murmuring in the background, but couldn't understand any words. "Uh, Janet wants to know if you'd like to come over here and hang out. She and Larry have this huge collection of videos. I seriously think they've got every movie ever filmed, whether it should have been made or not."

He was sure he began grinning like a moron at the invitation. "Uh, sounds great," he said. "When?"

More murmurs, then, "How about now? I mean, if you're not doing anything?"

"How about an hour?" he asked, glancing down at himself. He'd been neglecting personal hygiene in favor of writing, and he really needed to take a shower.

"An hour's fine," she said.

"Want me to bring anything?"

"Nah. Just you, and your witty, sarcastic comments. Can't watch movies without those."

"Too bad it's just going to be us," Jess said. "No one to throw popcorn at."

"Except each other," she pointed out. "By the way, don't."

"Aw, you're no fun. But I'll refrain from tossing kernals at you."

"Thanks. I really appreciate that. See you in a little while."

"Bye."

Jess hopped off his bed and went for the bathroom, glancing at the clothes strewn around on the way out. So, he thought in the shower, meeting the folks. Well, in Lorelai's case, foster-folks. 

He inspected his reflection in the mirror. Shaving wasn't a daily necessity, more like weekly, and it was that time of the week, he decided.

He checked his watch as he headed out the door, realizing he had enough time to walk there instead of hopping the subway. It was a nice day; for all that it was the middle of winter. The sun shone, the air had a definite bite to it, and was almost the clearest he'd ever seen in New York.

Finally, though, he was knocking on the same door Lorelai had closed behind her four days ago. It opened to reveal Lorelai, standing with an older woman who was obviously waiting for an introduction.

"Hey, Jess," Lorelai said, standing aside. "Come on in."

"Thanks," he said, making his lips quirk up in an attempt at a smile.

"Ah," Lorelai said a little awkwardly. "Janet, this is Jess. He's in three of my classes at school."

Janet smiled and reached out to shake Jess' hand. "Of course. Lorelai mentions you frequently. She says she hasn't met anyone else who has read as much as she has."

Jess smiled, genuinely if slightly. "Nice to meet you," he said. 

There was an awkward pause before Janet said, "You did say he wasn't very chatty. Well, I guess I'll let you two get to your movies."

"Actually," Jess said. "I was kinda hoping to show Lorelai around the city some more. We're not going to have many more days like this one this year, and there's a lot she hasn't seen."

Janet glanced towards the windows and smiled. "It's fine with me as long as it's fine with Lorelai."

"Sounds great." The girl under discussion grinned at Jess. "Just let me get my coat."

"And your cell," Janet said.

"And my cell," Lorelai repeated obediently as she opened a small closet to their left. She pulled on a lightweight jacket that matched the streaks in her hair. Then she stuffed something into one of the pockets. "Cell accounted for."

"You have money in case the cell breaks?"

"Yup," Lorelai nodded.

"Money for the subway?" Again she nodded in response. "All right," Janet finally said. "Be sure to be home around dark?"

"Maybe we can watch movies then," Lorelai said.

"We'll see if we can even stay awake by then," Jess said. "It was nice to meet you, Janet," he added as he and Lorelai left the apartment.

"You, too, Jess," her foster mother called after them. "Have fun." The door closed with a light click.

"So," Lorelai said. "Where to?"

"Here and there," Jess said enigmatically. He took her arm and walked her out of the building and down the road. "How much money you got?"

"About twenty," she said quietly, not wanting to advertise the fact that she was carrying cash.

"Good," he said, and refused to answer any of her increasingly persistent questions about where they were going. "You'll find out," he kept saying, making Lorelai want to tear at her hair. Or his.

"Is it so much to ask that you give me a straight answer about anything?" she finally demanded.

Jess merely nodded, smiling to himself. "Fine," Lorelai said, and fumed silently as they walked on. They took the subway, making Lorelai realize that she wasn't nearly so nervous this time around, though they did emerge from the underground holding hands again.

"Here we are," Jess said, stopping in front of a blank off-white storefront. It was a small building, almost buried among the taller ones around it. He entered, blocking Lorelai's view of the interior until he stepped aside. When she got her first good look around, she couldn't even manage a gasp.

After jawing for a long moment, she demanded, "What is this place?"

"Heaven," Jess said. "They have every book you'd ever think to want in here, probably in both used and new condition. This is where I found your copy of Anna Kerenina. Their organization needs some work, but it is fun to see what you find where."

Lorelai took a few staggering steps into the warehouse-like building. The place was huge, and she just didn't know where to look first. The first things you noticed were the books, but a close second were all the people; hundreds of them crammed in between the shelves and in the aisles. All kinds of people, from scholarly-looking grandfather-types browsing in the biographies to young punks with rainbow hued hair sheepishly inspecting the romance novels. Then there were the books themselves. The sheer numbers made her want to swoon for the first time in her life. Every aisle came with a stepladder because the shelves reached nearly to the ceiling fifteen feet above their heads.

"And you come here regularly?" she demanded, feeling almost like a person going down happily for the third time. Instead of waiting for his reply, she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the first row, scanning the shelves she could see for titles or authors she recognized. 

They took turns dragging each other up and down aisles, from genre to genre, from fiction to non-fiction to poetry. After three hours and much angst over how very few books they could buy, they left the store.

"That is the most horrible place I've ever been in," Lorelai said, sounding exhausted. Her feet were killing her and her wallet was empty of even her emergency cash. She never spent her emergency cash: it wasn't like her. But she'd spent it to make up the difference on their purchases. She got several Ayn Rand books that she had only borrowed from the library. There was a slim volume of poetry in there—Edna St. Vincent Malay—and a book that Janet had expressed an interest in to round out the purchase. Jess had a few anarchy-friendly titles, but limited himself to that for a while. "I can never go in there again unless I'm flat broke and can't afford to buy anything. Even then, I'll probably crawl around on the floor until I find enough loose change for one book!"

"I know," Jess said, grinning half-heartedly. He was tired, too. Even after several years of visiting the store, he'd had no idea it was that big. "I think we must have walked five miles today," he remarked, wishing he had thought to wear tennis shoes instead of boots.

"Do not remind me," Lorelai groaned. "And let's not forget all the stairs we climbed. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it home at all tonight."

"You better," Jess said. "I don't like to play chivalrous knight, so don't expect me to carry you."

"I don't expect you to carry me," Lorelai said indignantly. "I expect you to call a taxi to drive me home."

"Yeah, right," Jess snorted. "Taxis are so easy to get in New York."

"Well they make it look easy on TV," she defended herself.

"This is reality, Lor." She nodded at him, too weary, and almost unconsciously, her arm slipped around his waist. She leaned on him, her eyes drooping to half-mast. He smiled, but didn't comment for fear that she would realize what she was doing and stop. His arm mirrored hers, and they shuffled along all the way back to Lorelai's apartment.

Lorelai opened the door and gestured him inside, calling, "Janet? Larry?" There was no answer, and Lorelai inspected the kitchen for a note. She found one stuck to the fridge. "Went to a movie. Probably will go to dinner after. Have fun. –Janet and Larry." 

"Let's find something to eat," Lorelai said, beginning to search through the cabinets. "Since we can't eat in the living room, let's decide on what movies to watch before we get in there." 

"All right," he said. "What do they have?" 

She shook her head as she dug in the fridge for sandwich fixings, having decided that would be the quickest meal possibility. "Easier to just say a movie. They'll have it, unless it's some really obscure, really old foreign movie." In between bites of the sandwiches they made, they bounced around titles of movies. "Romancing the Stone," Lorelai said.

Jess shook his head. "Not in the mood for cheesy eighties adventure-romance. Rocky." 

"What happened to no cheese?" Lorelai demanded. "A Far Off Place."

"What's that about?" When Lorelai explained about three kids in Africa who are being pursued by poachers, Jess shruggd. "Never seen it, but it sounds okay. It goes on the list. Clueless," he suggested.

"You're suggesting that?" Lorelai demanded.

"It's based on a Jane Austin book," he said defensively.

"I forget you're one of those guys that admits to reading Jane Austin. All right. Clueless is on the agenda. My turn. Princess Bride."

"Done," he said, and swallowed his last bit of bread. They settled in on the couch facing a truly stupendous home theater system. "Wow," he said, casting an appreciative gaze around at the numerous speakers set up at strategic points in the room. "Which of your foster parents is the tech nut?"

"That would be Janet. She basically runs the Best Buy west of here. It's great. Everything's at a discount." She palmed three large remotes, manipulated them, and finally settled back to watch the first movie.

The laughter through Clueless kept them awake, even as tired as they were. The coffee Lorelai brewed between movies supplemented the adrenaline that went with the second movie. But then they crashed hard, falling asleep somewhere after the Cliffs of Insanity but before the Fire Swamp.

Janet and Larry came home to find Lorelai and Jess asleep on the couch. Janet studied them for a long moment. She had a lot of affection for the girl who was under their care, as she knew her husband did. She'd been dealt a few harsh blows in a row, and she deserved some happiness. And the boy was very, very sweet on her.

They'd probably started out sitting on different cushions, she mused, looking at their positions. Gravity had taken over, though, and Lorelai was lying against Jess, who was draped over the arm of the couch. Janet and Larry had been married for a long time, and knew each other very well. With a small exchange of glances, they nodded in perfect accord.

The slam of the door jarred Jess out of his dream, and he jerked to a seating position, causing Lorelai to slide into his lap. She made a distressed noise and scrunched her eyes tighter closed before saying, "What happened?"

"Hello?" Janet called out cheerfully. "Lorelai, where are you?" Lorelai shot upright, and frantically checked herself to see that she was still presentable.

"Uh, in here, Janet," she said, glancing at Jess in near panic. Jess shrugged, tried to disguise the helpless expression on his face.

"Oh, hello," Janet said, and smiled at the teenagers. "How was your afternoon?"

"Exhausting but incredible," Lorelai said honestly. "I think my feet are going to fall off."

"It's your fault," Jess said. "You're the one who insisted that we peruse every single aisle twice, in-depth." Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him in response. Smirking, Jess glanced at his watch. "Oh, jeez," he said. "I didn't realize it was so late."

"What movie did you guys end up seeing, anyway?" Lorelai asked as she and Jess got up from the couch.

"Oh, that new action flick. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner afterwards, it was so horrible," Larry said, speaking for the first time. "Seeing the late hour, Jess, why don't I give you a ride?"

Jess was all set to refuse when he caught Janet giving him a very pointed warning glance. Even he wasn't immune to such looks. "Yeah. Sure. Thanks." He desperately hoped he wouldn't be subjected to one of those "man to man" chats. It was bad enough watching one of those things on TV; he didn't want to experience one in real life.

To his surprise, Larry actually talked about Lorelai during the drive home, which took longer than necessary because of an accident blocking traffic. But Larry finished off by saying something cryptic: "She's had one rude shock in her life, piled on top a lot of hurt. Don't add to that, okay?"

Jess shook his head. "I wouldn't ever deliberately hurt her."

Larry sighed. "I guess that's all anyone can ask, right?"

Jess shrugged. "I guess. Thanks for the ride."

He let himself into the apartment quietly, and was relieved to see that if his mom was home, she hadn't fallen asleep in front of the TV again. His dad was undoubtedly working late again. Too tired to even think about writing, he began to strip for bed. Just as he was taking off his shirt, the solution to his writer's block struck him hard. He nearly reeled from it, but recovered and grabbed his notebook.

Later, he found himself falling asleep in his notebook, and was sure there were ink marks where his face had lain for a moment. He thought it was just a moment, anyway. He couldn't be sure. But Civil had reached an impasse in his investigation, and things were building up without his knowledge that would soon be breaking. Jess decided to let the story pause for a few hours' rest and hit the sheets.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face, thinking he'd never been so happy and so exhausted at the same time.


	4. Chapter 4

**_

Chapter 4

_**

The first day back from vacation was a rude shock, but Lorelai contented herself that at least she'd see Jess again. And she'd gotten all her homework done, so she didn't have to dread going to classes once more.

She felt…good. The two days she and Jess had spent together had been so much fun, and she felt like she was getting back to her old self again. It felt wonderful.

When she got to school, she saw him stalking through the hallways, face even more blank than usual. So she approached him carefully. "Jess?" she asked, sidling up to stand next to him. He was standing, staring into their locker. People rushed by, not sparing either of them a glance. "Je-ess!" she sing-songed, reaching out to wave a hand in front of his face.

He visibly flinched, then turned his head to glare at her. "What?" he nearly shouted, an edge to his voice that she'd never heard before.

Lorelai recoiled at his expression and his tone. "What did I do?" she asked in a small voice, her eyes wide and questioning.

"Nothing," Jess said, and slammed the locker. "I just don't feel like talking to anyone. Is that all right with you?" He stalked away, shoving one girl aside, ignoring her high-pitched protest.

Lorelai could only stand and stare after him, blinking in puzzlement. Then her expression was wiped clean, blessed numbness soothing the hurt confusion. She opened the locker carefully, slowly, grabbed the appropriate books, then closed it again, just as carefully.

The first half of her day was uneventful. She took the notes she needed and no more. She gave bare minimum answers. Her PE teacher pulled her aside at one point. "Is there something wrong, Lorelai?"

"No," she shrugged. "I'm fine."

The teacher clearly didn't believe a word of it, but let her go back to listlessly playing volleyball.

At lunch she went and sat in the library and read.

Fifteen minutes into the period, Jess showed up, throwing his backpack onto the couch opposite her hard enough that it bounced back onto the floor. She dimly felt anger burning, but ignored it and him in favor of words on paper.

The pair didn't speak, and a stony silence between them lasted through their classes.

The new status quo was maintained for a few days. Slowly, the anger Jess felt cooled, until resignation took its place.

He approached Lorelai at their locker that Friday. "Hey," he said in his usual fashion.

Alarm bells rang faintly in the back of his mind when she didn't respond. "Hey, Lorelai," he said, a little louder. The bells clanged louder when she leveled him a blank look over her shoulder.

"Um, what's wrong?"

Nearly untempered fury flashed across her face before she suppressed it and said flatly, "Nothing." She slammed the locker shut.

"Hey, I needed to get in there!"

"Sorry," she shrugged, and, turning away from him, headed towards her first class.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered to himself. What had he done to piss her off?

Or was she pissed off? The expression on her face hadn't been angry, aside from that one flash. In fact, now that he considered it, she hadn't had an expression. That was a bad sign. He hadn't seen her that expressionless since that second slip-up about her parents, and her second freeze-up. He stopped in his tracks. She'd frozen up again. Not. Good.

He stewed about what could have caused this reaction in her until lunch, where he met her in the library, like always, but he approached the couches as quietly as he could, studying her. She sat nearly still, breath steady, practically the only movement her eyes and hands as they turned pages. He frowned. Usually he could tell how she was feeling by her little actions: her fingers tapping on the cover of her book, one of her feet jiggling to the beat of a song in her head, maybe a smile tugging at her lips if she was reading something funny. All were conspicuous with their absence.

"Uh, hi," he said tentatively, setting his backpack at his feet.

She glanced up momentarily, met his eyes, and then went back to her book. He shivered.

"Lorelai?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could you put the book down and talk to me?"

"Oh," she said, laying the book open across the arm of the couch next to her. "_Now_ you want to talk. Interesting." Her tone quickly heated, which he supposed was better than nothing. "I wanted to talk to you on Monday. Instead you snap my head off, don't apologize, ignore me all week, then come to school today as if this whole thing never happened and expect me to _talk_ to you!"

"You are talking to me," Jess pointed out, then wanted to bite his tongue.

"No! I'm yelling at you! There's a difference!"

"Yeah, and I like it better when you're yelling at me than when you're all frozen. Okay, I had a bad weekend and snapped at you. I'm sorry. You had nothing to do with it. But I thought you understood."

"Understood what?"

"That I needed space!" He raked a hand through his hair. "I thought you were giving me space, instead of pushing me to talk it out. I didn't want to talk about it."

"I was mad at you!"

"I know that now!"

They stared at each other for a few long, tense moments. Then Jess broke and shook his head. "I already apologized," he reminded her, almost smirking.

She rolled her eyes, and he noticed her fingers drumming lightly on the arm of the couch, a fast, staccato rhythm. "I'm sorry too," she said grudgingly. "Though I have less to be sorry about than you do."

"I appreciated the space," he said. "I really needed to not think about it for a while."

Lorelai opened her mouth to say something, then frowned darkly and shut her mouth again. "I'm not going to ask about it, since that seems to be what you're telling me you don't want me to do," she said, and though it came out a little jumbled, he knew what she meant.

"My dad's gone." It was the first time he'd said the words aloud. He didn't look at her, but he heard her catch her breath. "The worst part is, I didn't even notice. I'm used to not seeing him, because he works such insane hours. That last day we spent together, though. That was the last one. A few days later, mom and I both got home, and saw a bunch of his stuff was missing. We called his job, and were informed that he'd quit that day, and hadn't even given the two weeks notice. His car wasn't in the parking garage, either. So, that was that. He just up and left." He snorted slightly. "And that's why I was so pissed off on Monday."

He looked up, waiting to see what her reaction was going to be. Her eyes were closed, and when she opened them, they were brimming with tears. She bit her lip and let out a shuddering breath before saying, "Next time you're beyond pissed, just tell me to let you alone until you've cooled off, okay? Don't act like you're mad at me. I didn't like it."

He met her eyes. "All right," he said. "But I don't anticipate being that mad for a while."

Lorelai laughed without sounding amused. "Good. I don't think I could take it again." Jess tilted his head slightly to look at her, then shifted to her couch. Without thinking about it too much, Lorelai shifted until they sat shoulder-to-shoulder. They each took out a book and began reading, contented smiles in place.

After a few minutes, though, Jess began to fidget. "Why do you do that? Freeze up, I mean?" he blurted out. Lorelai tilted her head to one side and looked at him, face expressionless, but it looked more as if she couldn't decide which face to make, rather than not wanting to make one at all.

"Because," she said, her voice quiet. "On August 14, 1999, I went to a late movie with some friends. It was a very good movie, I think, but I don't remember." She bit her lip and took a deep breath. "I don't remember because when I got home, I found my mother and my father asleep on the couch. At least, I thought they were asleep. Then I tried to wake them up and…" Her voice choked. "And, they just…collapsed. As if they were just rag dolls or something, and they were dead and I just started screaming and screaming, and…." 

Jess felt the whispered words like a physical blow, and gathered Lorelai into his arms, rocking her as she continued to cry—when had she started crying?—and tell her story. "I was told later it was a gas leak in the apartment, and that they were lucky they hadn't turned on the stove or lit candles, or anything. When I woke up…I was on a gurney, and I was outside my apartment, and… and…they were just wheeling my parents out in the body bags, and I fainted. I don't remember what happened for several days after that. I just…froze. And I stayed frozen. I didn't care about anything, or anyone, and…nothing mattered any more. And then I got sent here, and I met you, and you're the only one who makes me feel anything anymore!"

Jess looked down at her, and she looked up at him from his shoulder. "Lorelai," he said slowly, very conscious that if he didn't say the right thing, he would be royally screwed. "That's a lot of responsibility," he finally said. She nodded, not taking her eyes off his. "Do you really want to put that kind of trust in me? I could be just like my dad."

She shook her head. "No, Jess. Never. And yes, I'm going to put that kind of trust on you. You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend, too," he murmured, then laid his head on his and sat with her until the bell rang.

  


~*~

  


Jess seriously wanted to kick himself down the street. Why had he done it? Why had he opened his big mouth and ruined everything? It was all his fault, really. He yanked on the hem of the dress shirt he wore. He'd found dress slacks and a jacket in surprising shape at the Goodwill, and had bought a shirt to wear with them, flatly refusing to button up the collar. He was already choking; he didn't need the help.

He rang the bell to Lorelai's apartment and gulped hard, ready for anything.Anything except how Lorelai looked when she opened the door. She wore a bright red dress that was basically the same color as the streaks in her hair. She liked the color, and matched her hair as often as possible. The dress was off-the shoulder, going down to her kneesthe skirt flaring. The top was fitted to her, tight but not too. He gulped and felt his eyes widening of their own volition, to better take in the sight.

Lorelai smiled in pure feminine satisfaction. "Now that's an expression a girl likes to see," she said, stepping back to let him in, looking him up and down approvingly. "You clean up very nicely," she said to him, and leaned over to kiss his cheek. She wore low heels, so she was his height, looking him in the eye.

Jess couldn't believe he'd asked her to the end of the year dance. How clichéd and dorky could he get? However, he thought, watching her walk into the apartment to shout a goodbye to Janet and Larry, it might just be worth it. The dress had almost no back, plunging down and down, with only thin laces to hide her skin. He let out a silent whistle as she turned.

They had fun, despite the lame songs and horrible refreshments. Swaying back and forth with Lorelai in his arms during the slow dances were definitely high points in his opinion. The best part, though, was when they mutually kissed for the first time. Their previous kisses had been instigated by her, were mere pecks, and were few and far between. This kiss had nearly brought him to his knees with the sweetness she'd poured into it. But there was also an intensity to it that almost alarmed him.

Not that it occurred to him to be alarmed until after he'd dropped her off. Then he remembered what Larry had said several months ago. Could he hurt her? Could he stand hurting her, even accidentally? He shook his head, scattering the thoughts, grateful that it was a weekend and he could sleep in late.

The next day, he was nearing the end of the latest notebook and the end of the latest Civil story when the phone rang. Even though he was sure it was Lorelai, he let it ring. He wasn't avoiding her, he told himself. It was just that he was so close to the end and he wanted to finish so he could start revisions. The phone rang again a few hours later, and this time he didn't pick it up because he was eating, and it was rude to talk on the phone when you were eating.

He wasn't _ignoring_ her, he repeated. He was involved in other things, and didn't really want to go out and do anything anyway. He had plenty to do here, thanks.

She didn't call on Sunday. He wondered why.

Monday, he was late to the library, coming in halfway through lunch.When he didn't see Lorelai on the couch he scanned the stacks. She wasn't there. He shrugged and sat down, pulling out a tattered copy of Bukowski, telling himself he wasn't worried about her absence. 

"Hey," he greeted her casually in Honors English. She looked up from her conversation with the girl who sat on her other side, giving him a smile.

"Hey," she said. "Have you met Tali?"

"I don't think so," he said, leaning forward to talk past Lorelai. He studied the girl for a moment. Unmistakably a mixed-race girl, she had café-au-lait skin with dark blonde hair. Her face was striking, even hidden behind thick-lensed glasses. 

"Where'd you transfer from?" Lorelai asked her. "And why so late in the year? I mean, it's almost over."

"New Hampshire," she said. "My dad was offered a really great job here, so the whole family—me and my three sisters—was uprooted. It's not so bad, but I'm still a country girl." She laughed deprecatingly. "As for being the end of the year, I figure it's good to at least get a lay-out of the school before next year."

The bell rang then, and the trio turned forward to pay attention to the class, leaving Jess wondering why Lorelai hadn't shown up in the library. "I'll be in History in a minute, Jess," Lorelai said as he slid out of his desk. "I just want to get Tali's number." Jess frowned slightly, but shrugged and left the room.

"Are you guys dating?" Tali asked Lorelai immediately. Lorelai shook her head. "Uh-huh," Tali said, clearly disbelieving.

"We're not," Lorelai protested. "We're friends. We met in the library my first day here and we became friends." She blushed, though, at the remembrance of their kisses and all their movie parties, where they'd often stayed up so late they fell asleep on her couch. She also steadfastly ignored the feeling of rightness whenever she awoke next to him, even if it was just a snooze after a flick.

"Maybe," Tali said, gathering her things and sticking a pen behind her ear. "But there's no rule that says friendship has to leave when romance comes knockin'."

"There is if it's one-sided," Lorelai noted.

"You think it's one-sided?" Tali laughed slightly. "I've only spent one class period with you and I can tell that it's not. Jeez," she added, rolling her eyes. "He's jealous of me. Just think on what that means, and give me a call sometime."

"It doesn't mean anything, and I will." Shaking her head, Lorelai made her way to their History classroom. She smiled at Jess as she sat next to him. Her smile turned to puzzlement when he didn't smirk back as he usually did. His face was almost completely blank of expression, but that wasn't _too_ unusal, considering this was Jess. "Anything wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, eyes snapping to the front of the room and never wavering. He acted like that all through their last two classes. Oh, sure, he helped her with her math when she asked for it, but he wasn't nice about it. He was mad at her; she knew that right away. Not mad at something else that he didn't want to talk about, but angry with _her_. But why? He'd ignored her calls all Saturday, then didn't call her on Sunday. She was the one who should be angry.

They both made their way through the crowded hallways to their locker. Neither had any text books left, having turned them in for end-of-the-year inspection, but they still stored their reading books there, and had to fetch them. "Look," she finally snapped, confronting him at their locker as the crowds thinned around them. "If you're mad at me, say something about it so I can either apologize or get mad back. Do not attempt to freeze me out, because frankly, you're not that good at it."

"You're getting Kali's number?"

"Her name is Tali, as you well know," Lorelai snapped. "And what's wrong with that?"

"I'm your friend," he said indignantly. She looked at him with a very clear, "Duh!" expression. "No. _I'm_ your friend."

"Yeah? So?" Lorelai snorted.

"So what do you need her for?"

"I'm allowed to have more than one friend, Jess," she said.

"How many friends did you have before you moved here?" he demanded. 

"What about you?" she demanded. "We've been friends for the whole school year and I've never seen your house, or even where you live."

"My apartment is a pit," he said. "You don't want to go there. Especially since my dad left."

She shrugged. "Whatever you say. Why didn't you answer the phone on Saturday?"

"I was busy," he said, shifting his weight and not meeting her eyes. "I didn't know you called until I checked the caller ID after I got home."

"Then why didn't you call me back?" He remained silent, unable to think of a reason. "Fine," she said, beginning to turn away. "I guess going to the dance was a bad idea."

"Hold on there," he said, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. "What?"

"Going to the dance seems to have changed something that neither of us was ready to change," she said, glaring at his hand until he let go. 

"Like what?"

"Like…I don't know. Whatever, okay? Next time you're gonna get all guy-like on me, let me know, okay?"

"What do you mean, guy-like?" he demanded, affronted. "I am a guy, therefore by definition, I am guy-like."

"I mean," she said pointedly, "getting all mean and distant as soon as something new happens, like that kiss at the dance."

"I haven't been mean!" But he had been distant, he knew, and refused to deny it. He was, above all else, honest, at least with himself. "It's just…"

"We shouldn't have gone to the dance," she said when he couldn't elaborate. "I thought you'd had a good time."

"And I thought I was a good friend." He didn't look at her as he blurted out what had been bothering him for the last couple hours. Silence greeted him, and he looked up to see a completely baffled look on Lorelai's face. "What do you need Tali for?"

Lorelai blinked when she finally comprehended what he was saying. "Oh, jeez, she was right! You think that I want to be friends with Tali because of something you did? Or didn't do, maybe?" She shook her head and chuckled slightly. "I just think it might be nice to have a female friend here. But that's all, Jess. I asked her, and she doesn't read that much except for genre books. Who else am I going to share Kerouak with? Jane Austin? Who else is going to drag me to the Warehouse when he knows perfectly well I need to save my money?"

"It's fun watching you be torn between a really good bargain and hanging onto your money," Jess grumbled.

"With Tali, I'll be able to have sleepovers, talk about girlie stuff. It's a different kind of friendship entirely. No less or more important." She stepped towards him, laid her hand on his arm. "Besides, Jess. You'll always be my first friend here. The one who did so much for me without even knowing me." She paused, licking her lips slightly. "You'll always be the one I slow danced with. The one I kissed."

The tension level between them rose, until Jess leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. They stayed that way for a moment, then he pulled away. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Me, too," she said. They turned and walked out of the school, their arms around each other's waists.

**Author's Note:** Okay, just so everyone knows, I started this story long before we knew anything about Jess' dad, other than Luke's line, "...the great prize that my sister picked up at a Der Wienerschnitzel left her about two years ago, whereabouts unknown." So, that's what I knew when I was writing this story, and that's what I'm sticking with. So, yeah. That's the situation with this.

Also, would you all be kind enough not to put spoilers in the reviews? I don't want people who look at reviews before the stories to be spoiled rotten for the story. Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

**_

Chapter 5

_**

Summer came with oppressive heat, and Lorelai often invited Jess over to hang out in the air conditioning at her house. Since he didn't have air conditioning–his window opening to a cool alley didn't really count—he always went. They watched many, many movies in the first month. It got to the point where neither of them wanted to sit and watch the screen any more.

"But what can we do?" Lorelai lamented, throwing herself dramatically onto the couch after pacing for a bit.

"Lots," he replied vaguely.

"Let me guess: nothing that involves us staying here and staying cool," she said. She was dressed in short shorts and a tank top, and looking at her was distracting. He nearly groaned when her shirt rode up and he could see part of her bare stomach.

"It's not like you're not dressed for hot weather," he pointed out to her. She nodded, getting up and walking over to the window to look out on the street. Jess forced his eyes anywhere besides the long legs the shorts revealed.

"True enough," Lorelai acknowledged. She propped herself against the windowsill and resisted looking at Jess, who looked very, very attractive in a thin white tank top and jeans. Delectable, she thought, then forced her thoughts to activities. "I don't have any money, so I can't go to the Warehouse," she said. "Or anywhere else, for that matter."

"Well," Jess said, trying to be reasonable. "What do you feel like doing? Maybe we can make it happen?"

"That's the problem!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "I don't know what I want to do. I just know I don't want to sit in here and vegetate for the eleventh day in a row."

"Well, do you want to actually do something active, or do you just not want to stare at a screen?" He smiled at her, and pulled a book from the pocket on his jeans.

"Ooh," she said, moving to sit next to him on the couch. "What is it?"

"Tuck Everlasting."

"Oh, I love that book," she said. "My mom used to read it to me when I was younger." 

It was the first time in months she'd explicitly mentioned her parents, since she'd told him about their deaths. She looked so sad that he said the first thing that came to mind to cheer her up. "Why don't I read it to you?"

She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. "Would you really?" she asked in a small voice.

Jess squirmed a little. "Yeah, of course I will. Can I get a glass of water first? I don't want to stop in the middle to go get some."

"Yeah, sure," she said, and got a tall glass of ice-water, setting it on the table next to him as she returned.

They sat there for an hour while he read the short children's story aloud. When he was finished, he cleared his throat several times. Lorelai had stuck her arm through his and was leaning against his shoulder, her legs pulled up under her. It left him with a very, very good view of her, and it was causing the usual reaction in a teenaged boy.

Lorelai looked up at him, her eyes half-lidded and shining with tears. "Thank you," she said very quietly, then leaned up and kissed him, a mere peck. Then the kiss deepened, and he brought his hand up to cup her neck and the back of her head in his palms, turning to face her. Slowly, she sat back, pulling him down with her, until he was nearly lying over her. Both their tall frames stretched across the couch. Her hands roamed up his sides, up over his shoulders, then down again to rest around his waist. Then, as if she couldn't control them, her hands repeated the process over and over again, driving him crazy. His hands stayed where they were, gently cradling her head and neck, feeling the rest of her against him, under him.

She kept herself from arching against him with great difficulty. He was so solid and strong against her, yet he'd never hurt her, she was sure of it. He'd been her steady rock since they met, and she cared for him quite a lot. As they continued to kiss—her first make-out session—she thought that if given enough time, and if she could ever love anyone again, it would be him.

She pulled away from the kiss, then gasped when his mouth traveled to her neck. The nerves there came alive, dancing down and spreading throughout her body. The gentle suction of his mouth on her skin made her shudder, and her hands flew of their own free will to his head, pulling him to her harder.

"Hmm," he said against her skin. "You like that, huh?"

"I really, really do," she said, her voice higher than she'd thought it would be. Ah, the sensations were driving her crazy. "If you stop I'll kill you," she added, making him laugh. He didn't, however, stop, continuing to kiss and suckle on her skin. She stretched beneath him like a satisfied cat. His arms bent, ever so slightly, and he pressed her into the couch.

"God," he breathed. "You…you feel so incredible."

Lorelai closed her eyes and felt herself blushing at the compliment. "I could say the same for you," she told him, and wriggled slightly against him. He groaned heartily and moved to sit up. It was her turn to groan, this time in disappointment.

"We need to stop," Jess said, and shoved his hand through his hair.

"Mind if I ask why?" Lorelai said, sitting up also.

He just shrugged. "That's not a reason," Lorelai said, and folded her arms, causing interesting things to happen to her anatomy that made Jess look away.

"Look," he said, sighing. "I just…it wouldn't be…"

"What?" she demanded. "Right? Good? What?"

His voice was harsh when he finally demanded, "Is it just the heat? The moment? Boredom?" She made a confused face at him. "I want…"

"More?" she suggested when words abandoned him, raising her eyebrows in surprise and dropping her arms. "Really?" He didn't answer her, instead looking down at the carpet in her living room. "Jess?" She tilted her head until she could meet his eyes. "I really care about you," she told him, and touched his cheek lightly. "I mean, you're not my first boyfriend, but… I've never really wanted to kiss anyone else as much as I want to kiss you."

"Really?" he asked, and began to grin slowly. She began blushing hard, and soon it was Lorelai's turn to avoid his eyes. "I'm flattered, really," he said, and took her hand. "I think we should make this official," he said. "I mean, we've been friends for months, and we've been…experimenting, I guess we could call it." She blushed harder, but smiled slightly in remembrance. "Not that I object, Lor," he said. "I just…want to be able to say that you're my girlfriend." Still flushed, she looked him in the face.

"Really?" She began smiling brilliantly, and said, "So, it's, like, official?"

"I guess so," he said. "I'm your boyfriend, and you're my girlfriend. Two-way street. Got it?" Her answer was to lean forward and begin kissing him again.

  


~*~

  


The next year seemed to fly by, though it wasn't without its tribulations. Jess finally told Lorelai his ambition to be a writer, and even let her read one of his stories. She loved them, and told him that every chance she got. Unfortunately, he sometimes did stupid things in his quest for information on crime. She'd been forced to yell at him when he'd shoplifted an expensive jacket, and was only slightly mollified when he gave it to the Salvation Army.

Then there were his new "friends." A bunch of college-aged kids had moved into his apartment building, and he spent more time there than he did at his own place. Then there was the fact that he was constantly skipping school, except for the classes they shared. It was only those classes that raised his GPA enough that he passed sophomore year.

Summer brought even more worries to Lorelai, because she found out Jess' "friends" were using drugs. So far it was only pot, but who knew what else they'd be willing to do?

It was almost the end of the summer, and Lorelai was fretting, as usual. Jess hadn't talked to her at all the previous day, but she didn't want to look like a harpy because he wasn't spending time with her. 

Sometimes she hated being his girlfriend.

"Just stop being a dork about it and call," she ordered herself, and dialed the number of the friend's apartment.

"Yeah?" The bored voice was one she recognized as one of his friend's girlfriends.

"Is Jess there?" She tried not to sound completely impatient, but she couldn't help it. The people were always stoned, and even though Jess swore up and down that he didn't do anything, she could never be 100% sure. She trusted him, and believed him, but there were always circumstances.

Lorelai could practically hear the girl roll her eyes. "Hold on."

Jess came on the line. "Lorelai?"

"Jess."

"Hey," he said, sounding perfectly fine, aware of his surroundings. She trusted him, she reminded herself. Even around those other girls, the drugs, the dumb older kids. No matter how many times she had to repeat the mantra, it was still true. But just because she trusted him, that didn't mean that she trusted other people. "What's up?"

She realized she'd been silent for a while, and said hurriedly, "I was just wondering what was up. I didn't talk to you yesterday, and I wondered if maybe you want to come over and watch some movies."

"Uh, actually we we're just heading out," he said. "But I can come over later, if you want."

"Yeah, that would be great," she said, knowing it was best that she act normal. But she _really_ hated his friends. Eventually, she could say something about it, just not now, not over the phone in front of his friends. "How about eight?"

"No problem," he said, sounding happy. "I'll be over. Later."

"Bye," she said. She wanted to say, "I love you," but she didn't. It might sound manipulative, like she was trying to get him to say it. And she wasn't, though it would of course be nice if he said it back. She'd finally realized she loved him about a month ago, and had been waiting for the right time to tell. But it was never the right time.

Around ten that night she began to worry. She worried until the next morning when the doorbell rang and she jumped up from her seat. "Yeah?" she asked into the speaker, biting her lip and hoping it would be Jess.

"Can I come up?" Jess said. He sounded very strange. She didn't say anything, not trusting herself to speak. Instead, she buzzed him in through the safety doors in the lobby and opened her door slightly so he could come straight in.

She waited for him next to the door, trying to remain calm about him not showing up when he'd said he would. Her arms were folded tightly around her, and she fumed silently. She didn't react when he shoved open the door, then slammed it closed behind him.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately. "I'm really, really sorry about this. I didn't mean to promise that I would show up and then not show up. But there are extenuating circumstances."

"One of your _friends_ said something that passes for witty and you decided to reward them for it?" she said acidly, and saw him wince. She moved into the living room and sat on the couch, and he followed. He didn't sit, choosing instead to stand in front of her and make nervous gestures.

"Okay," he said, raking a hand through his hair. "So hanging out with potheads wasn't one of my more intelligent choices. But they were funny."

"So funny that you're jeopardizing our relationship to hang out with them? Jess, you're just trying to get your mother's attention, or doing research or something! Now tell me what happened last night that made you break your promise?"

He sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair. "We were walking down to the store, to buy some munchies. All of a sudden there's this group of kids standing in our way, and my friends flipped out. I can't believe how crazy they went. They started screaming at the other kids, something about a rival school, I think. They were baffled, but they shouted right back. Someone threw a punch, and it ended up being a knock-down, drag out brawl right there on the street. I only defended myself, I swear," he added, seeing that she was eyeing the split skin on his knuckles. "Someone called the cops, and everybody ran. I stayed put, because running makes you look guilty. God," he shook his head. "It was the stupidest thing those guys have ever done, and we both know that's saying something. The cops didn't arrest me, since they hadn't seen me fighting or running away, but they did bring me home. It freaked my mom out big time."

"I can imagine," Lorelai said, still not comprehending quite what this meant, except that she was right to worry about him.

"Lorelai." Jess' voice was strained as he sat next to her. She let him take her hand, and half-turned to face him. "I love you," he said. 

"Great timing," she scoffed, though she really wanted to throw this stupid fight out the window there and then.

"It actually is," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes. "Because I've got to run away."

"What?" she screeched, jumping up and away from him, dropping his hand. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"My mom is sending me away."

"What? When?"

"Tomorrow," he said, expression hardening into contempt. "She's sending me to live with her brother in this nothing little town in Connecticut. She says she can't handle me anymore, and she can't take the time off work to get me out of jail if need be, much less the money. So she bought me a bus ticket. I leave in the morning."

Lorelai's jaw worked for a while before she managed to say anything. "You're… leaving?" She collapsed back onto the couch, staring at him in complete incomprehension.

"No." He shook his head fervently. "I'm not leaving New York. I'm running away. I can take care of myself. I'll find a job and get an apartment. And I can stay here with you."

Lorelai bit her lip. She wanted him to go. It was a horrible thing to think, but how much trouble could he get into in a small town? She knew she was about to start crying. "Jess, you…you can't. You can't do that to yourself. You'd be going to school there, wouldn't you?" He nodded, but said nothing. She tilted her head back until she could look at the ceiling.

"But I'm not going," he said stubbornly. "I'm staying in New York. This is my place, my town. I like it here. My friends are here. You're here."

"I don't want you to stay here just for me," she said. "It smacks too much of Romeo and Juliet."

He flinched, but said, "I'm okay with that. Besides, you're a major reason to stay here, but not the only one. My friends are here."

"The friends that could have gotten you arrested?"

"Okay, they're morons, but they're my friends."

"No, they're not." She shook her head. "They're not your friends. They're not smart enough to be your friends. They're complete idiots that are going to get you into serious trouble if you hang out with them any more."

"Lor," he said. To shut him up, she leaned forward and kissed him.

During the last year of their relationship, they'd done everything either could think of, but always stopped just short of making love.Lorelai decided it was time to change that. Slowly, she pulled away from him, took his hand in hers, and led him to her bedroom.

"Jess," she said, and closed and locked her door. "I want to make love with you. Now. Before you leave. Whatever you're going to do," she added hastily. 

He stepped towards her and began kissing her wildly, barely able to hold himself back. It wasn't something he was proud of, but it was there. Not that Lorelai seemed to mind. She was almost as wild as he, and nearly tore the seams of his shirt pulling it over his head. The frustration had been building up in both of them, and it nearly exploded now into a heady mix of love and lust.

She ran her hands over his chest, her mouth not leaving his. She moaned as his hands slid under her shirt and palmed her breasts. They fell onto the bed, though neither could say who'd tipped the balance. She'd been prepared for this for a long time, and pulled a condom packet out of her bedside drawer. When he saw that, Jess kissed her more fervently and began to tear at her shorts as she attacked his zipper.

Afterward, they lay entwined in Lorelai's bed, the darkened, cool room soothing their heated skin. Lorelai walked her fingersover his chest, which was still rising and falling rapidly with his breathing. Not that her breath was all that steady, either. She loved to look at him, and even though she knew he wasn't done filling out, so to speak, she knew that when he did, he would be absolutely breathtaking.

"You should go to Connecticut," she said quietly from her resting place on his shoulder.

"What?" he demanded, tilting his chin until he could see her face. She looked up at him, and had to blink back tears.

"I love you, too," she told him, hoping he would take that as explanation enough.

"Great timing," he mimicked her, but wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer as a smile broke over his face. "Why do you want me to leave, then?"

"Because," she said. "Jess, New York isn't good for you. It's bad. You don't…do well here. You're stagnating. You could do so much more, but because you're here, where you're comfortable, you're not. I want more for you." She let out a shuddering breath, and realized she was shaking. "Maybe you could do better with your uncle."

"But what about…this?" he said, gesturing to the bed. 

"I wanted to make love with you once before I told you to leave. Because even if you don't go, I don't know if I can be with you anymore. I'm scared for you," she said desperately. "You're cutting school all the time, you barely passed sophomore year, you're hanging out with complete morons who do drugs. I don't know if I can stand worrying about you so much." She waited, holding her breath, for his reaction to her litany.

After a pause, he asked, "Why didn't you ever say anything?" 

"Because you were always in the class you had with me. That's the one class you never skipped. And I don't want to be one of those harpy girlfriends who makes you choose between your friends and your girlfriend. But I can't do it anymore. I refuse, because they're not good people for you to be hanging out with. And…I want you to go. It could be a really good thing."

"Lorelai," he said, sighing heavily. "I…I love you, and I want to stay with you." They laid in silence for a long time, listening to the ticking of the clock and the omnipresent hum of traffic on the street below. Finally, he said, "Lorelai, you could never be 'one of those harpy girlfriends.' You've never tried to control me, or asked anything of me you didn't think I could do." He sighed. "You really think Stars Hollow would be that good for me?"

"Is that what it's called?" she asked idly. "Sounds like a nice place."

"My uncle owns a diner."

"Would you work there?" she asked, unable to hold back the amusement in her voice.

"Probably," he said, sounding resigned.

"I would love to see you wearing an apron," she said, and began giggling.

"I'll send you a picture," he said, sounding oh-so-very thrilled with the prospect. She laughed before she realized what it meant.

"I love you," she told him, and leaned up and kissed him. "And we'll talk to each other every day."

"You'd better believe it," he said. "I'm going to need someone to complain to, and I'm pretty sure that my uncle won't be receptive to something like that."

They lay in companionable silence, letting the reality of what they'd just decided hit them. "Jess?"

He dreaded what she was going to say, she sounded so nervous. "Hmm?"

"I just want you to know I love you. You've always been there for me."

"Except for last night when I was packing."

"I mean, that first day of school two years ago…I was numb. I was just floating through life, not caring any more."

He kissed the top of her head, trying to soothe away the painful memories. "I know. Because of your parents."

"Mostly," she hedged, shifting a little, and adjusting the sheet over her.

"What do you mean, 'mostly?'" He bit his lip when she didn't answer right away.

"My parents died, I told you that all ready. But I never told you what happened after. I…wasn't ready. I want…no, I _need_ to tell you now. The funeral is less than a blur in my memory, but I can smell the flowers if I concentrate. I remember my grandmother and aunt coming to stay with me in the apartment. It was so hard, being in the apartment. I expected mom and dad to come in any minute, telling me that all of it had been a horrible dream." She paused and shifted a bit, until she was lying with her head pillowed on Jess' chest, studying his face. 

Her voice was neutral when she spoke next. "I didn't have a lot of family, and it was all on my mom's side, because my dad didn't have any siblings and his parents had died years before. Everyone was older than me. At family gatherings, the only people I really talked to were my parents. I just thought it was because I was younger, or because I was fairly odd, always reading, more fascinated with books than I was with anything else. But…after the funeral, I finally worked up the guts to ask my aunt what was going to happen. I was only fourteen; I needed someone in my family to take care of me."

"So how'd you end up in the foster care system?" he blurted before he could stop himself.

"It wasn't so much 'end up in' as 'go back into,'" she said dully. He blinked at her, uncomprehending. "The reason none of my family liked me in the first place was that I was adopted. Blood means more to them than anything, and I wasn't of their blood, so I wasn't part of their family."

He blinked at her in astonishment. "What?" he demanded. "So…your parents weren't your birth parents?"

She nodded, eyes dry of tears. She looked almost surprised about that last fact. "I guess I can talk about it now. I couldn't when I first met you. You helped me so much just by becoming my friend, you know? By becoming someone I could just be myself with. You helped me figure out who 'me' is."

"But you said you were named after your mother," Jess said.

"I am. My birth mother. Her name was Lorelai. When I was born, people didn't know the women who were giving kids up for adoption. They met by accident. My parents told all this to my aunt. She and my mother were very close, but even she never got over that blood-thing. As a courtesy to me, I guess, my aunt told me the story after she and my grandmother told me the truth.

"My birth mother was sixteen when she had me, but she was apparently a very chatty girl. She was at the nursery window when my parents came up to get their first look at me. They lied and said they were in the hospital visiting a co-worker, and came to look at the newborns. My birth mother introduced herself, and looked at me, her eyes wet. 

"She told them that she'd decided to give her baby up for adoption, but she hadn't realized how hard it would be to see me and still be able to give me away. My parents realized she was my mother, and felt sorry for her. She said she was sorry for being so sappy, and introduced herself. My parents adored the name instantly. So they named me after a woman they met for five minutes, who happened to have given birth to me."

"And how do you feel about her?" Jess asked, reaching out and stroking her hair back from her face and behind her ear.

"Half of me wants to find her," Lorelai admitted. "And the other half thinks that it would disrespect my parents' memory."

"It wouldn't," he said immediately.

"Maybe when I'm eighteen, I'll look for her. But until then, I like Janet and Larry. They're good people, and I know that I can have affection for them without forgetting my parents."

"That's a good thing for you to know," Jess said. "Thank you for telling me," he added, and pulled her up to kiss her again. Emotions and hormones quickly led to more than just kissing.

  


~*~

  
**Author's Note:** Well, kiddies, that's the end of part one. Part two is much longer, I promise. Thank you so much to those that have reviewed on here without spoiling the story. I appreciate it very much. If you'd like to review about something specific, please write me. I'd love to hear your comments. 


	6. Chapter 6

****

Part Two:

__

Chapter 6

The bus ride from New York gave Jess time to contemplate his girlfriend. Everything about her made sense, now. She'd lived all her life thinking one thing, then been told she wasn't who and what she thought she was after losing her parents. No wonder she'd cut herself off from everything. He might have done the same thing.

But he was also really proud of her. Since he'd known her, she'd come back to life, and become a wonderful person in the process. She wasn't forgetting what had happened to her, or how much pain she'd felt. But she wasn't letting it drag her down anymore, and had found her won strength through getting past all that.

The bus lurched to a stop, dragging him out of his reverie. He looked around and spotted a sign—so small he almost missed it—said it was established in the 1700's, and had less than ten thousand people. _This isn't even a one-horse town, he thought. _But he'd promised Lorelai that he was going to give the town and his uncle a fair chance. And he never broke a promise once it was given, which was why he generally avoided making them.

He shouldered his sack and stepped down off the bus, the only person to do so. There was a man standing waiting that had the same eyes as his mother—and he'd been told—himself. "Luke?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at the man who wore jeans, a flannel shirt and a backwards baseball hat.

"Jess?" the man asked right back. Jess nodded. "Okay. Welcome to Stars Hollow," he said, and gestured around. "This is it," he said ruefully, then turned and began walking. Jess looked around doubtfully for a moment, then followed. His uncle led him into a diner with a few people scattered around at tables, most drinking coffee, or finishing sandwiches. "This…" Luke said, standing in the center and again making a wide-sweeping gesture. "This is my diner. If you want, you can work here after school for something to do. There's not a lot to do here, and you just might get that bored."

"Good to know," Jess said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, and not quite failing.

"Yeah," his uncle said. "Uh, upstairs is where I live…we live." He headed up the stairs, and Jess obediently trailed after him. There was a door with "William's Hardware" emblazoned on it. His mother had briefly told him that his grandfather had run the hardware store for most of her life, and when he died, her brother took it over and turned it into a diner, but left the sign up. Strong family ties from that side. He wondered what had gone wrong with his mother.

Luke was inside all ready, and he went in. There was one bed, a table and chairs, a kitchenette, a dresser, a closet, and a blow-up mattress. That was all there was to the "apartment". _Good grief,_ Jess thought. _Even mom's and my place was better than this._ He kept his thoughts from his face, and instead looked at his uncle.

"Uh," Luke said, obviously completely out of his element. "You can take the bed. The mattress is mine, until I can find a real bed for you."

Jess nodded. "Got it," he said. They stood in uncomfortable silence until Jess jerked a thumb at the door. "Uh, you can head on down to work," he told his uncle. "I'll just…unpack."

"Yeah, okay," Luke said, and clapped his hands, then looked as if he didn't know why he'd done it. "I'll…uh, do that. Let me know when you leave. There's absolutely no way you can get lost in Stars Hollow. You take three lefts and you're back in the center of town." Jess nodded and watched his uncle leave.

Shaking his head, he unzipped his bag and began pulling out the clothes he'd packed, putting them in the closet. Since most of his stuff was going to be shipped by his mother in a little while—Liz had refused to name any specific date—putting everything away didn't really take very long. He shrugged and headed down the stairs to the diner where he very probably would be working soon.

"I'm headed out," he told his uncle.

"Okay," Luke answered, not looking away from his order pad. Jess waited for a moment, expecting him to say something else, like, "Be back in an hour," or "before dark." But nothing came. So he left the diner. He stepped out into the sunshine, and squinted until his eyes adjusted.

He wanted to do a double take when he saw a mother-daughter team dressed identically. He'd never known that people actually did that. There were town decorations, he noted in horrified awe, kids playing in the park, and people strolling along an avenue. "So," he murmured to himself. "_This_ is perfection. I always wondered what it would look like." Everyone looked so happy, which was just what he told Lorelai that night on the phone.

"Like, Prozac happy, or actually happy?" she asked, sounding as if she were choking on laughter.

"A mixture of both, if that's possible," Jess said, and laid back on the bed, propping one of his arms behind his head. "I mean, these people were smiling all the time. I swear, I thought someone was going to break into song at any second and lead everybody in a dance number."

"So it's not bad, it's just so saccharine that you want to gag," Lorelai said, obviously smiling. "I'm glad you're giving the place a chance, Jess."

"I am," he said. 

"You are?" she asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yeah," he told her, ignoring her skepticism. "I figure there'll be a lot of story fodder here. You know how all small towns are basically soap operas underneath the surface. I bet I find an amazing story idea within the week."

"What are we betting?"

"You coming down during the holiday break?"

"Hmm," she said. "I'll have to talk to Larry and Janet, but I don't think they'll be too set against it."

"I can't wait," Jess said. Luke came into the apartment and stopped short when he saw Jess talking on the phone. Jess held up one finger. Luke ignored the signal to wait.

"Who're you talking to?" he demanded.

"My girlfriend," Jess said, holding the receiver below his chin.

"In New York?"

Jess had to stifle a smile at the shocked tone in his voice. He nodded. "Hold on, Lor." He held his hand over the mouthpiece. "Look, I'll pay. I'll buy phone cards."

"With what money?"

"I'll find a part-time job," he said nonchalantly.

"Or you could work in the diner?" he asked, considering.

Jess thought it over for a second. "Why not?" he asked with the air of someone throwing care to the winds.

"All right," Luke said. "Uh…tell her 'hi' from Stars Hollow." Jess made a slight face, but shrugged and watched his uncle leave the apartment to give him privacy.

"Jess!" Lorelai said, sounding a little impatient.

"I'm back," he told her. "Sorry. My Uncle Luke says hi."

"Really? Well, tell him 'hi' back. What's he like?"

Jess thought about his answer. "I kinda feel sorry for the guy," he said. "I mean, yeah, he's lived in this tiny town for his whole life, but you should see his stuff. I mean, he's got about five shirts hanging in the closet. His entire wardrobe doesn't even fill up one medium-sized dresser. He's living in this apartment that used to be my grandfather's office above the diner he made out of a hardware store. I would feel sorry for the guy if I wasn't in the same boat."

Lorelai was quiet for a moment. "Is he happy there?" she asked.

Jess shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. "It seems so," he said. "And I guess he's pretty flexible. I mean, he gave me the bed."

"That was nice of him," Lorelai said. "Though I have to wonder what the alternative was to the bed."

"This blow-up mattress that he's got. Seriously, this apartment is tiny." Jess looked around, and tried to estimate square footage. "It's like if your living room and kitchen were all one room. That's the basic size of this place."

"Interesting," Lorelai said. "I can't wait to see it."

"Me neither," Jess said, his tone warming. "I miss you all ready," he told her. "You'd really like this place.."

"I miss you, too, Jess," she said. "School just won't be the same without you."

"Speaking of which, my first day at Stars Hollow High is tomorrow."

"And you sound so incredibly thrilled about it, too," she said. "Well, I need to get off the phone. Call me tomorrow and tell me all about your new classes."

"You'll get a full report. I love you."

"I love you," she said back, and hung up. Jess hung his head momentarily, wishing fervently that he was back in New York. _You promised Lorelai you'd give this place a chance. So…go spend enough time in the actual town to give it that chance._

Heaving a huge sigh, Jess got up to head downstairs to the diner for his first day of work.

  


~*~

  


It wasn't so bad. He guessed. Though the six-languages of the Pledge of Allegiance was a little much, in his opinion: Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and two Native American languages. Lorelai had a laugh riot about that one. Lorelai had laugh riots about a lot of things that first month and a half he was in Stars Hollow. 

"Happy birthday," he said, smiling broadly into the receiver.

"Thanks," Lorelai said warmly. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too," Jess said, smile fading. "A lot. I just wish I could make a day trip up there, but I just can't." Time, money and school had conspired against him.

"I know," she soothed. "I understand. No worries. Oh," she added, voice fainter. "Thanks Janet. Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I just got your present."

"Well, then, open it!"

"Impatient much?" The sound of ripping paper filtered through the phone line. She gasped. "Oh," she said. "You… What is it?"

"Open it."

She sighed. "Do you always have to be…so…cryptic? Jess, is this Stars Hollow?" she asked.

"Right in one." Jess was proud of his little bout of photography. "I took all those pictures to show I wasn't lying to you."

"Jess, this is…wow. It's such a beautiful little town. I can't wait until I can see it. I bet it's really beautiful covered in snow."

"Well, no snow yet," he said. "But there's bound to be some by the time you get here."

"I can only hope," she said, sounding as if she were counting down the days.

Then, a few days later, she started sounding…off. There was something wrong, but she wasn't telling him anything. He knew what it was, and he'd been afraid of this from the moment he stepped on the bus.

She'd met someone else. Someone not stuck in this stupid little town far away from her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, three days after her birthday, his stomach clenching at the thought that she was going to break up with him at any second.

"Yeah," she said, and he could hear the lie in her voice. "Fine. Why do you ask?"

"You just sound…funny." He winced. That sounded so dumb.

"Actually, I've been sick for the last couple days. But I'm better now." Jess felt relief wash over him. If there was someone else, she'd tell him; she wouldn't just lead him on.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," he said. "Anything interesting happening at school?"

"Yeah," she said. "Tali met this really great guy about a month ago, and he just asked her to go steady. And he's totally gaga over her, so he's being just the biggest sweetheart. They do make me sick to my stomach occasionally. Mostly, though, they make me miss you." There was the distinct sound of sniffling in the background, and Jess felt concern springing to life again.

"Lorelai?" he asked her.

"I'm okay," she said. "Really. But…I can't come visit you over the holidays. I've… something's come up. I wish I could. Really, really wish I could, Jess, but…maybe some other time?" 

"Did something happen to Larry or Janet?" he asked, sitting up straight on the bed.

"No, nothing like that. No emergencies. It's just…I can't make it. I'm sorry, Jess."

"It's all right," he said soothingly. "As long as nothing's wrong." He stopped and swallowed hard, but kept his tone light. "Come on, Lor, you've got a life up there, right? It's not like I expect you to drop everything just cause I'm not there." His stomach began to clench again, and he told it to calm down.

"But—" Lorelai said, sounding a little scared. "But I love you."

"I love you, too," he told her. "But that doesn't mean that I believe your life will come to a screeching halt when I'm not there."

"Jess," she sighed. "You're right. I know that. So, I'll call you tomorrow?"

"How about I call you after closing," he said.

"Okay. I love you," she said again, sounding unusually adamant. 

"Love you, too."

Jess continued to work at the diner and saved his money, though all he paid for was the phone cards he used to call New York. He continued to talk to Lorelai every day, sometimes for just a few minutes, sometimes over an hour. She never sounded quite right anymore. There was something wrong. It was like when they'd first met: she acted happy and carefree, but there was something blocking everything out. Something that she wouldn't tell him.

He brooded on that for a long time. Months. By the end of November, he still hadn't come up with any possibility other than that she'd met someone else. He no longer had any desire to go to New York, if that was going to be the straw that broke Lorelai's back and finally made her break up with him. Or worse, seeing her with someone else with his own eyes.

When he wasn't doing just enough homework to eke out a passing grade, he was working. By now, he knew the townspeople by heart, even though he didn't talk to them much. Then one day, a new face showed up at the diner.

Luke looked up when the bell rang over the door. When he smiled hugely, Jess blinked in shock for a long moment, then looked to see who had so profound an effect on his uncle. He saw an older, refined-looking woman surveying the diner with a fond smile.

"Mia!" Luke shouted as he rounded the counter. Since the diner was virtually empty, there wasn't anyone else to witness the strange behavior of his uncle, such as when Luke pulled the woman into his arms for a hug.

"Oh, Lucas," she said. "I've missed you! How've you been?"

"I'm just fine," Luke said, smiling down at her. He looked up and spotted Jess watching the scene with interest. "Mia, this is Jess." She moved to shake hands with him. "Liz's son," Luke added.

"Oh, is she here?" Mia asked eagerly. Both Jess and Luke avoided her gaze.

"Uh, no," Luke said. "She's in New York."

Mia looked back and forth between the two males for a long moment before murmuring, "I see. Well," she continued in brighter tones. "What's on the menu today?"

Luke joined Jess behind the counter. "Anything you want, we've got it," he told her.

"I just loved your turkeys," Mia said, sliding onto the stool. "If you have any leftover turkey sandwiches I'd take one of those."

"I'll get it," Jess said, speaking for the first time. "You catch up." He closed the notebook he'd been scribbling idly in and moved into the kitchen.

Luke said, "So what brings you to back to Stars Hollow?"

"Business and pleasure, both," Mia said. "So tell me; where is everyone?"

"Most people stay home the day after Thanksgiving, eating leftovers, recovering from the tryptophan overdoses, that kind of thing. How long are you staying?"

"I don't know," Mia said, then her smiled widened when Jess came out with a thick sandwich on a plate with fries. "You know, Jess," Mia said. "I've known your uncle and mother since they were babies. In fact, on a few memorable occasions I was their baby-sitter."

"Huh," Jess said, feigning disinterest. "Any good pranks I should be made aware of?"

"Well," Mia began. "There was that one involving an oven and—"

"Mia," Luke cut in hastily. "Please, just eat the sandwich." Mia and Jess shared a secret smile before Mia did as Luke commanded.

Silence descended while Mia ate. A few customers came in for coffee, but they were tourists, and didn't stay for a meal.

"So what brings you here?" Luke asked. "We don't hear anything about what goes on up at the Inn; that manager you hired is a recluse."

Jess snorted. "If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black." Luke glared at Jess momentarily.

Mia sighed fatalistically. "Well, I guess you'll find out soon enough. I'm selling the Inn."

"What?" Luke demanded. "Why?"

"Honestly, I think it's time for a change," Mia said. "I liked having a business that wasn't so…established. Something with some challenge to it."

"So you're going to open another one?" Mia nodded. "Where?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said. "I was hoping to do some traveling to find that out."

"So who's buying the Inn?" Luke demanded, sounding personally offended. "Some big chain that's gonna come in and suck all the originality out of Stars Hollow?"

Mia shook her head. "No. I've gotten several offers from chains, but no. There's a private buyer. She's run hotels and B&B's in the past and feels she's ready to own one. She's coming in sometime in the next month to look around the Inn and the town."

Luke was slightly mollified by that. "Well, good," he said brusquely. "At least we won't have a Holiday Inn looming over us."

"I would never sell to a Holiday Inn," Mia said, much affronted. "Especially since those casino/hotels are so hot these days."

Both Mia and Jess watched Luke sputter good-naturedly at that.

  


~*~

  
**Author's Note:** Again, thank you so much for not spoiling those who read reviews. And I love getting e-mails! Thanks, everybody! 


	7. Chapter 7

**__**

Chapter 7

A few weeks later, the diner was so busy Luke hardly noticed when Mia came in with a tall, pretty brunet woman.

"Brisk lunch hour business," the woman noted approvingly as Mia led her to a seat. Luke came by to take their drink orders, and both asked for coffee.

"So, Ms. Davies," Mia began once they'd both settled on their lunch orders. "What do you think?"

"Of?" the other woman replied, tilting her head slightly.

"The Inn. The town," Mia said.

Ms. Davies smiled warmly. "Both are undeniably beautiful. And the only other time I've seen such a well-run establishment it was my own. I'm afraid I won't have much to do when the sale goes through." She transferred her smile to Luke as he brought two mugs of coffee. "Thank you," she said. They placed their orders and Luke left again.

Mia said, "So we should have the lawyers draw up the papers as soon as possible." She tried to sound business-like, but her eyes began watering almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She gave a weak laugh when Ms. Davies hastily pulled napkins out of a dispenser, handing them to Mia. "You must think it's silly," Mia said, and the other woman shook her head furiously. "Well, _I_ think it's silly."

"To tell the truth, I'd be a little leary of buying if you _weren't_ so obviously attached to the place."

"Yes, I suppose so," Mia replied and dabbed at her eyes carefully.

Luke came just then bearing food and stopped dead when he saw Mia was crying. "What's wrong?" he demanded and hurriedly set the plates down.

Mia waved him away. "Apparently property transactions make me weepy," she said.

"Ah," Luke said, a world of comprehension in the syllable. "Let me know if you need anything else."

Even though the statement was aimed at Mia, Ms. Davies held out her mug. "I'd love another cup of coffee," she said. "It's absolutely delicious."

"Coming right up," Luke said.

"Thank you." Again, Ms. Davies smiled at him. His lips almost twisted into a smile in response before he turned away. Ms. Davies turned to Mia. "So, how do I go about finding an apartment here?"

"An apartment?" Mia asked, non-plussed.

"Yeah. I'm going to need a place to live. Unless there's someplace in the Inn?"

Mia shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. Well, there are several nice apartment complexes here, mostly on the streets named after fruit."

"Fruit, got it," Ms. Davies said with a smile. "Truthfully, what I really want is a house, but I know that might take some time. So, I'll be doing apartment living for a while."

They settled into eating in companionable silence.

"Aw, it's gone," Ms. Davies said a few minutes later, making a disappointed face at her empty plate. "Everything here is delicious. Why do people even eat at the Inn?"

Mia smiled. "The Inn is for more up-scale meals. You know, nights on the town."

"I suppose. So, tell me about Stars Hollow," Ms. Davies requested before finishing the last of her coffee. In response, Mia stood and grabbed her coat.

"Why don't I give you a tour as I talk?" Mia suggested, smiling warmly. Ms. Davies returned the smile and mimicked Mia's actions.

"Sounds great," she said. "I'd just like one cup of coffee to go." When Mia laughed, she explained, "I'm a _little_ neurotic about coffee." They exited the diner into the crisp afternoon.

"My dear Ms. Davies," Mia said. "I think you're going to fit in just fine here."

"Well, as long as I'm going to fit in here, please stop calling me Ms. Davies. It reminds me of my ex."

"I'm sorry," Mia said. "Was it a bad divorce?"

She shook her head in response. "We just didn't see each other for what we were for a long time." She grew a little melancholy for a moment. "Not until it was too late." Then she brightened. "But the point of that was to ask you to call me Lorelai."

"I'd be thrilled," Mia said. The two women strolled through the town for the next hour or so.

  


~*~

  


The next morning, Lorelai came into the diner for breakfast. Instead of another business suit she wore old jeans and a sweater underneath her heavy winter coat. And rather than the sedate bun she'd worn in her hair, it now tumbled down around her shoulders. The diner was moderately busy, and she opted to sit at the counter rather than take up a whole table.

A young man was circulating with a coffeepot, instead of the Hispanic man she'd seen yesterday. He looked a lot like the man who'd taken their orders, come to think of it. Then the man from yesterday appeared with three plates in his arms. "I'll be with you in a minute," he said as he passed her.

"No hurry," she said absently and studied the menu.

"What can I get for you?" the man asked, coming up behind the counter.

"Uh, I don't know," she said. "What would you recommend?"

"Well," he said, considering. "The pancakes came out good today."

"Great," she said, slapping the menu closed. "In that case, I'll take three pancakes, a large order of hash browns, a side order of bacon and lots and lots of coffee." She smiled knowingly as he flashed her an incredulous look. He sighed, obviously prepared for leftovers.

"Coming right up," he said. Then he shifted his gaze behind her. "Jess!" he said, obviously an order, but not a harsh one.

"Yeah," the young man said, and approached with a coffeepot. He poured her a large mug of the hot liquid and took a seat behind the counter. Lorelai watched him as he picked up a ragged-looking paperback. As she craned her neck, she saw the title was of Jane Austin's that she didn't recognize. _Interesting,_ she thought, and sipped her coffee. Then she closed her eyes at the wonderful flavor that hit her. She hadn't had the concentration to fully appreciate the wonderful coffee at lunch yesterday, but she did now as she held the liquid in her mouth for a few glorious seconds.

Then she swallowed, and thought back over the business lunch. It had gone well. She hadn't said anything spectacularly stupid, and she hadn't ruined the sale. In fact, she'd closed the deal. But she could barely comprehend that. It was her dream to own a beautiful place like the Inn, and make it run simply by working at it. And now, she was finally able to do that.

Rather than dwell on the fact that she might mess this up, she decided to not think about it and get to know her new home.

Once she got past the scruffiness, the proprietor wasn't bad to look at. _Strong and silent,_ she mused, watching him make the rounds of the diner. And she wondered if the kid—Jess—was his son. There was no wedding ring on his hand, though that didn't mean much, really.

By the time her food was ready she'd eavesdropped shamelessly on all the conversations she could. _I'm really going to like it here,_ she thought, and took her first bite of pancake. _I'm _really_ going to like it here._

She enjoyed Scruffy Guy's look of surprise when he took away a completely cleaned plate. She had all the time in the world to find out anything she wanted to know, because she was here to stay.

  


~*~

  


Jess continued to worry about what was bothering Lorelai. She still sounded funny on the phone, but everything was fine if he asked about it. His worry caused him to retreat even more than he already had, and when he wasn't working at the diner, he was in the apartment reading and writing. He barely talked to anyone at school. Even the teachers didn't show that much interest in him when they found out he wouldn't flounder or flourish in their classes. Though there was this one girl who was constantly pelting him with weird questions about New York, but he could talk music with her occasionally.

He had managed to find a plot: Civil gets hired to look into a disappearance in a small town. The characters were a little more malicious than the ones he'd observed in Stars Hollow, but it was more fun that way. Sometimes he thought the people in this town were too nice for their own good.

Because he was so distracted, he didn't notice for a few days that they had a new regular customer. When he did realize, he watched her. She seemed very familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"Well," Luke said one morning. "What'll it be, Ms. Davies?" Jess took note of her name, hoping that it would help jog his memories. Then he shook his head and remembering he had school, though it was the last day before the Christmas break.

"I'm gone, Luke," Jess said. He simultaneously stuffed his book in his back pocket and grabbed his coat.

"You're working at six," Luke reminded him.

"Yeah," Jess said.

As he left, he heard the woman say, "It's Gilmore. My last name, I mean. I'm changing it back to my maiden name." _Interesting_, Jess thought, and let the door close behind him.

"Oh," Luke said, and blinked. "Sorry."

"Why don't we start over?" she suggested, and held out her hand for a shake. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore."

"Luke Danes," he answered and they shook.

"Nice to meet you. So," she added with a smile. "Who's the chatty kid?" Her thumb jerked over her shoulder after Jess.

"That's my nephew, Jess," Luke answered. "He lives with me."

"Oh," she said. "What about his parents?"

"His dad took off a little while ago, and his mom—my sister—couldn't handle him. Do you have any kids?" he asked suddenly.

She bit her lip and shook her head, ignoring the fact that technically she did, because she didn't want to think about that.

"'Cause I'm trying to figure out why Liz couldn't handle him," Luke continued. "I mean, he's not a bad kid. He's just really…solitary. He doesn't do badly in school. Doesn't do well, either, but he doesn't do badly. He helps out here in the diner. When he's not doing that, he's either reading, scribbling, listening to music or talking to his girlfriend. I mean, the worst thing about him is that he likes his music really loud, and I have to yell at him to turn it down." Luke looked surprised for a moment, as if wondering why he was sharing so much.

"I take it your sister never gave you a specific reason for sending him here from…where was he from?"

"New York. And, no, she didn't. She just said she couldn't handle him and put him on a bus the next day. He's not a complete saint, I mean, he's pulled a few pranks, but it's just kid stuff."

Lorelai smiled. "Like what? He didn't put, like, soap in the water fountain, did he?"

"Not that I heard about."

"Ah, that one's a classic."

"The worst was this chalk outline in front of the grocery store window," Luke said. "Pissed off Taylor a lot, but it was pretty harmless. He also hid a whole bunch of the school's baseballs." Lorelai snickered. "They found them in a closet. The coach almost got buried by horsehide." Lorelai outright laughed and Luke almost joined in. "So, what'll you have this morning?"

"Well, seeing as how I've sampled pretty much everything on your breakfast menu but the omelet, let's try that."

"Great. What do you want in it?"

"Ham and cheese," she said. "With, of course, the usual hash browns and bacon. And coffee, coffee, and more coffee."

"I take it you don't want the coffee in the omelet?" Luke asked as he got her a mug. She had a horrified expression on her face that nearly made him chuckle. "You know," he added. "Coffee's terrible for you."

"Is it?" She took a healthy gulp. "Do tell."

"It rots your brain with caffeine, it's addictive."

"And how. Fill 'er up." She held out the mug until he refilled it, then he sighed and went to wait on other customers.


	8. Chapter 8

**_

Chapter 8

_**

Jess hung up the phone, shaking his head, feeling that something very significant was about to happen, for better of worse.

"Who was that?" Luke asked idly.

"That was my girlfriend."

"You usually look happier when you talk to her."

"Yeah, well, she's coming here."

Luke paused. "What, like, Stars Hollow here?" Jess nodded. "Isn't that a good thing? You wanted her to come and visit for the Christmas. This is going to be good, right?"

Jess shrugged in response. "I don't… I don't know. She has a cell phone, and called from the bus. She'll be here in about an hour. She said there's a lot of stuff we have to talk about."

"Ah," Luke said, though he still didn't understand.

"It's gonna be a kiss-off," Jess said, resigned to the fact.

"Now, you don't know that," Luke said, trying to be comforting. 

Jess stood, scoffing. "Luke, you suck at consolation," he said. "She'd never break up with me on the phone, and I never got that trip there. Look, I'm gonna go meet Lorelai at the bus stop. At least then she can go home immediately and doesn't have to waste time here."

"Wait a minute. Her name is Lorelai?" Luke's words stopped him on the way out.

"Yeah," Jess said, almost making it a question.

"Huh."

"What?"

"I just never thought I'd meet two Lorelais, much less have two of them in the same town at the same time. Weird."

Jess stared at his uncle for a long moment, then said very slowly, "What other Lorelai do you know?"

Luke looked at him funny. "Gilmore? Crazy lady who bought the Inn, comes in every day and drinks the coffeepots dry?"

Jess looked completely startled for a long moment. "Her name is Lorelai?"

"Yes."

"Her first name?"

"Yes."

"How old is she?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't ask women their ages. It's rude. Early thirties I guess."

Jess let out a huge breath. "Do me a favor and do not mention another Lorelai to my girlfriend. Or the other way around," he added. When Luke nodded that he wouldn't, Jess muttered, "My life is bizarre." He turned and ran out. His thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion as he walked the short path to the bus stop.

That was why that woman looked so familiar. She was Lorelai's mother—she had to be. They even looked and acted a lot alike, now that he knew what to look for. Same color hair, same eyes, same addiction to coffee. And now Lorelai was coming here to break up with him. What was he going to do? He couldn't sit on this secret; but he didn't know for sure that she wanted to find her birth mother.

And what about Lorelai, or, rather, Lorelai the elder? Did she want to find the daughter she'd given up for adoption? Was she even interested in knowing what had happened to her? He had to talk to both of them, but knew it was going to be next to impossible. 

Sighing, he pulled out his book and waited for his girlfriend to show up to break his heart. He told himself he'd been prepared for this. He'd known something like this was going to happen soon. Long-distance relationships didn't work out that often, did they? She'd sounded so weird for the last several months, so what else could it be? 

And he was starting to get mad. She was the one who'd told him to come here in the first place. He'd known it was going to cause trouble, but she'd asked him to come, and he'd done it just because she had. Though he did admit he was getting a lot more writing done here. And there wasn't anything nearby worth skipping school for, so he might actually graduate with the rest of the people his age.

He couldn't decide if it was a fair trade-off. Giving up the girlfriend he loved in exchange for…what? A better life? Shaking his head, he resolved not to decide what he was feeling until everything was done with. He went back to his book.

When the bus pulled up, his heart began pounding hard in nervousness. He stood and took a deep breath. Then he saw her, and she looked as gorgeous as he remembered. More than anything, he wanted to grab her to him and hug her, kiss her, make her realize that she didn't want to break up with him. 

He walked toward her as she bit her lip and looked around curiously, her full duffle bag lying at her feet. Stars Hollow looked idyllic at the worst of times, but blanketed in snow it looked absolutely pristine. As he neared, he noticed that she seemed pale and tired.

"Lorelai," he said, and she visibly jumped.

"Jess," she said, and looked very scared. "Um, hi," she finished lamely. 

He nodded. "Hi." They stood around in silence for a few seconds.

She looked at him steadily. "I have to talk to you." He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at her expectantly. "Can we sit down?"

"I'd have thought you'd want to stretch a little after sitting for so long," he said, gesturing at the now-departing bus. When she shook her head, he nodded in acceptance and led her to sit in the gazebo at the center of town.

As they sat, she took in a huge breath and then let it out. "Okay." She opened her mouth, then snapped it closed. She did this several times before she managed to say, "Okay," again. "I understand that this is weird," she continued. "But I have a lot to say."

"Are you cold?" he asked. When she looked at him questioningly, he took her hands in his and said, "Your hands are shaking." He was stalling and he knew it. He also didn't care.

"I'm just nervous," she admitted. "I don't know quite how to tell you what I need to say."

He set his jaw and released her hands. "Just say it straight out."

"Okay," she said. "I'm…well, first I need to tell you that I took the classes and got my G.E.D. Then I need you to know that I'm an emancipated minor. Janet and Larry agreed to do that for me as my legal guardians." Jess frowned, feeling very confused. "I'm moving here," she said.

"Really?" he asked, and nearly smiled. "Then why are you so nervous?"

"Because I'm pregnant," she blurted out. When she saw the blank shock on his face, she hung her head. "I'm almost five months along," she whispered.

"That means that…but we used a condom," Jess said, trying to digest this information. When Lorelai merely nodded, he said, "When did you first find this out?"

"A few days after my birthday," she admitted quietly.

His voice held a little more emotion as he demanded, "You've been keeping this from me since October?"

She began to cry as she nodded, and began speaking very quickly. "I didn't want to tell you until I knew for sure. And then when I did know, you were doing so well here. I mean, you weren't doing as badly as you were in New York, and I knew that if I told you you'd insist on coming back. I loved the sound of Stars Hollow, and I loved the pictures. I wanted to be here, with you. Start over. Something like that. So…I dropped out of school and took the first GED course I could find. I finished just last week."

"How could you keep this from me?" he demanded. "Are you healthy? The baby's doing okay, right? I mean, there's no danger or anything, is there?" She shook her head.

"Jess," she said, reaching up with a gloved hand to wipe at her tears. "I kept this from you because I know you. I knew you'd come back to New York." She looked at him, eyes still wet. "I don't want to raise a baby in New York."

"But you still should have told me," he ground out around his clenched jaw. "You could have told me to stay and I would have." _I think._ "I don't understand this. We talked every day. I talked to you every day, and you never said anything."

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have kept it from you. But I wanted to be set. I wanted to be able to come here and tell you that I'm staying, and I'm not going back." 

Jess stood suddenly and held out his hand. "Come on," he said.

She looked up at him, wide-eyed. "Where?"

"I'm taking you home," he said. When she began to panic, he clarified, "My home. I'm not sending you back to New York." He sighed and looked up at the roof of the gazebo. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my uncle. Just don't tell him until the diner's closed and the explosion is at least slightly contained, okay?" he added.

She nodded, sniffed and took his hand, feeling encouraged that he didn't drop it. They walked hand-in-hand through Stars Hollow. He led her into a semi-busy restaurant, which she assumed was the diner. "Hey Luke," Jess said, waving and leading Lorelai up past him hurriedly. He stopped in the stair well. "This is Lorelai," he added trying to shield her from the most curious observers.

"Hi," Lorelai said, trying to smile at Luke, curling her fingers in a nervous wave.

"Hey," Luke said, then turned a questioning look on Jess. He cocked his head to the side, then called, "Hey, take over for a minute, would ya, Caesar?" The other man nodded and went to refill drinks. "Come on, Lorelai," Luke said, pushing past both of them. "I'll show you the apartment."

Jess winced after his uncle had turned his back. But he dutifully waved Lorelai up the stairs ahead of him. When she entered the apartment for the first time, raised eyebrows were the only indication of what she thought. He had prepared her for the small size of the apartment. "Well," Luke said. "Uh, this is it. So," he added. "What's up?"

"She's staying for a while," Jess said vaguely.

"I see," Luke said, though he didn't. "Well, you're welcome to take Jess' bed. He'll sleep on the couch." He sent a pointed look his nephew's way, and was moderately surprised when he nodded a little spastically.

"Oh, no, that's okay," Lorelai said. "I'll just go get a room at the hotel."

"It's an Inn, actually. But that's not necessary," Jess said quickly. "You're absolutely welcome here as long as you like."

"But, Jess," she began then bit her lip. Both men looked at her curiously. "Um, thank you, uh, Luke. I really appreciate that."

Luke nodded and turned to his nephew. "Why don't you take the night off? Show…Lorelai around town?"

Jess raised his eyebrow at his uncle, then nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. Thanks."

Luke left them alone in the apartment. "Are you going to be warm enough?" Jess asked, gesturing to her clothes.

Lorelai nodded in response. "Jess," she said in a low voice. He was halfway to the door, so he stopped and turned around. "Can you…can I just get a hug?" she asked.

"I wasn't sure you'd want to be hugged," he said as he stepped towards her, and folded her in his arms. She sighed happily and just stood in his embrace, reveling in the feel of him after so long apart. Her cheek pressed into his shoulder, her nose nuzzling his neck, and she inhaled his scent for the first time in months.

He hesitated slightly before shuffling his feet closer to her, until he felt her stomach, even through the layers of clothes. "Can I…?" he almost asked. She smiled as she pulled back. She took off her coat and sweater, and lifted the simple T-shirt she had under it until he could see her expanding stomach. He kneeled in front of her, his fingers trailing lightly down the curve. "God," he breathed, seeing the evidence for the first time. "Is there really a baby in there?" He looked up at her.

She nodded. "I've got sonogram pictures, if you want to see," she said. "They're in my bag."

"We'll look at them later," Jess said, his eyes watching his hand as it trailed all around her belly. "I just…can't believe it. My baby is in there." He felt a clutching sensation in his throat and chest, and realized that he wanted to cry. Blinking rapidly, he looked up at her. She looked so nervous, he thought idly. To show his feelings, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her stomach. "Our baby," he added.

Lorelai broke down and began sobbing. Jess stood and quickly pulled her to the couch, where she curled into his arms, letting go of the nerves she felt, the sickening fear that he wouldn't believe her, would hate her, or stop trusting her. He soothed her with nonsense syllables, rocking back and forth. His fingers combed through her hair.

"I was so scared," she finally sniffed, her tears abating somewhat. "I'm so sorry I kept it from you, but…you have to understand that I could never give it up. Never. Not after what I've been through."

"I know," he said. "Really, I do. I never even considered it. And I know how you feel about abortions."

She nodded. "Once I found out the baby and I were healthy, it wasn't even a consideration." She wiped her eyes, and tried to pull herself together. "Let's get that tour taken," she said. "There's not much light left."

"You don't have to worry about being out after dark here," he told her. "Ever hear that Meredith Brooks song, 'My Little Town?'" Lorelai nodded. "Well, that's Stars Hollow," he told her. "The town's dead after dark, not dangerous."

She slipped back into her sweater and jacket and they left the apartment.

He showed her the town square, Doose's Market, the bookstore, Al's Pancake World. They walked slowly, hand-in-hand, and earned a few syrupy glances from the likes of Miss Patty and Babette. "Jess, darling," Miss Patty said, approaching, wearing one of her usual loud costumes. "Please introduce us to this stunning young creature."

"Miss Patty," Jess said obediently. "This is Lori, my girlfriend. She's moving here from New York. Lori, this is Miss Patty." Lorelai looked at him questioningly for a brief moment, but smiled and shook hands with the older woman.

"Let me tell you," Miss Patty said, tugging Lorelai closer conspiratorially. "If I were just thirty years younger I would have snapped your boyfriend out from under you like _that_." Lorelai smiled over her shoulder at Jess, realizing he hadn't been exaggerating during their phone calls.

"I trust him," she told the other woman calmly. Jess stepped forward and slipped his arm around her waist while Miss Patty laughed heartily.

"Well, nice chatting with you, Miss Patty," Jess said, and began leading Lorelai around her. "But we've got a tour of Stars Hollow to finish."

"Don't stay out too late, dears." Miss Patty had to have the last word. "Remember it's a school night!"

"Maybe I should look into the GED courses, too," Jess said.

Lorelai shook her head. "No, you shouldn't. You're going to graduate the old-fashioned way. Otherwise," she added, lowering both her voice and her hand, "how are we going to keep this one in school?"

Jess' stomach flopped at the reminder. "Fine. I'll stay in as long as I can. But we've got to talk about finances, and a place to live, and—"

"Jess," Lorelai interrupted. "Can we…God, I hate to quote Scarlet, but let's think about it tomorrow, okay? I just want to enjoy being with you again."

"I do, too. But it may not work to wait until tomorrow," he warned her. "Luke is going to get on our case about this as soon as he finds out. God, he's gonna freak," Jess added, and ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," Lorelai said.

"No, don't say that," Jess said. "I can't believe this is me saying this, but I'm kinda looking forward to everything. I mean, I get to go to the doctor with you now, see the sonogram, hear the heartbeat…. This is totally getting sappy."

He heard Lorelai sniffling next to him, and turned in slight alarm. She waved him away, then burst into tears for the third time in just a few hours. "I'm okay," she told him through her sobs. "I'm so lucky, though," she added, and grabbed his hand hard. "I'm so lucky to have found you." Jess felt his eyes burning, and blinked rapidly. Crying would not be cool, even at so emotional a time. "Enough," Lorelai said, and sounded disgusted with both of them. "I'm sick of crying. No more crying for the entire night."

Jess smiled and they began walking again. "Come on, we've got to keep moving or we'll freeze." He walked back towards the diner, but when he spotted Lorelai…the elder…in the window, he abruptly changed directions. "I forgot this one place," he told her, and led her towards the school. Now was not the right time for the two Lorelais to find out about each other, at least not without him laying some ground work.

He showed his Lorelai to the bridge over a small pond near the school grounds. He would sit out here and eat his diner food for lunch, reading and occasionally writing. Something about the bridge called to him. It kind of epitomized the small-country-town feel to him. Plus, there was a near-tragic drowning scene in his latest Civil story he thought was really good.

"Oh," she said, and sat where he indicated. There was a delicate lacing of ice on the surface of the water, the light reflecting off the slight movements below. "This is so…idyllic, I think is the word. And peaceful." She leaned back on her hands to look above her at the sky. "The stars…. You can actually see the stars out here. That's so cool." 

"Sit back up," Jess requested. She frowned at him slightly, but complied. He slid behind her, his legs splayed to her sides, then pulled her back until she was lying in his arms. Her eyes drifted shut and she relaxed against him, content for the first time in months.

"I love you," she murmured to him, before tilting her head to the side.

"I love you," he countered, and kissed her. Their first intimate contact in five months felt every bit as good as she'd thought it would. Her hand crept to the back of his head to gently comb through his hair, and his hands began to caress her stomach through the thick winter coat. "I missed you," Jess murmured against her mouth. 

"I missed you, too," she said, and pulled gently away. "So much. You have no idea." Just then, her stomach began to rumble. She laughed, slightly embarrassed, and explained, "I was too nervous to eat since this morning. It's so horrible, Jess! I can only have decaf!"

He chuckled, and got to his feet, holding out his hand to help her, also. "I was wondering about that whole caffeine-and-pregnancy thing," he said idly. He turned serious. "It's good, though. But it's not healthy for you not to eat. Or to be too stressed. I need to get some books," he muttered, almost to himself.

"Janet and Larry are shipping most of my stuff when I call them to," Lorelai said. "There's tons of pregnancy books in there."

"I'm still going to the library." He saw Lorelai bite her lip in the vague light from a street lamp. "What's that for?"

"Do you want the whole town to know I'm pregnant?"

Jess would have snorted if she hadn't sounded so scared. "I don't think we're going to be able to avoid it about four months from now," he said. "This town…it's very accepting, if you treat it right. I think they're going to love you," he added as an afterthought. "Especially if you're honest with them."

"So, I shouldn't try and hide it?"

"No more than you normally would have," he said. "I'm not saying that you should wear T-shirts emblazoned with 'Baby on Board' or midriff shirts, but…just be honest. If we don't, the rumors are going to be a lot worse than the truth."

They were silent for a few steps. "What does Tali say about this?"

"She says she's happy for me, and if I—we—don't keep in touch, she's going to come down here and start causing trouble." Lorelai sounded thoroughly amused at this.

Jess snorted. "I'd like to see that," he said, half-kidding.

"She threw a baby shower for me before I left," she confided. "Janet helped her organize it. It was nice, and I got a ton of baby clothes, and this really great changing table that they'll send." 

She smiled, and the two continued to talk as they headed back to the diner.

  


~*~

  
**Author's Note:** Whew! *wipes forehead* That was the big one, everybody. But don't worry. There's ten more chapters, and a lot more story coming up! 


	9. Chapter 9

**_

Chapter 9

_**

Jess quickly checked the diner for the other Lorelai before leading his girlfriend into the warm room. He sat them both at a table as near to the stairwell as he could get. She picked up a menu. "Mm," she said, scanning it. "Everything sounds delicious. What do you like here?"

"Not much. I mean, I like it," he added hastily. "It's just that I have it all the time. But the first thing I had here was a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Does it come with fries?" He nodded. "Anything else?"

"Order as much as you like," he told her. "It's on the house as your first meal in Stars Hollow." She smiled and looked down at the menu again. He leaned forward to whisper to her, "And don't worry. I can only imagine how much you're eating now that…well, now. Don't worry, we can take it."

Since she had permission, she selected the grilled cheese sandwich with fries, a chef's salad—"I'm trying to eat a little healthier."—decaf coffee, and a sundae for desert. Luke looked at her, obviously skeptical. But he shrugged, used to small women ordering large amounts of food. 

Another thing the Lorelais had in common, Jess thought as he watched her eat. It was amazing: he'd even missed how she could scarf down food without breathing or in some cases even chewing. He'd just missed her.

They lucked out and Lorelai…the older Lorelai didn't come in. _This is going to get even more confusing very quickly,_ he thought, internally sighing at the edits he had going in his mental dialogue. 

Anyway, they'd lucked out and Lorelai hadn't made any of her frequent late-night trips for more coffee to the diner. So, they sat until closing time, sitting close together and reading books that Jess fetched from the apartment. He heard the murmurs in the background, but ignored them. They'd have a lot more to talk about soon enough.

He and Lorelai helped Luke put up the chairs and clean up for the night. "You don't have to do this," he'd protested to Lorelai. "You're a guest." 

She and Jess had exchanged a quick glance before she said, "I don't mind. It's interesting." Luke looked at her as if she were crazy but shrugged and let her continue. He seemed to like her, Jess noticed with hope, and wondered if he'd noticed the similarities between Lorelai and Lorelai. He had to talk to his uncle in private very soon.

The trio stomped up the stairs to the apartment, and sat around the cramped kitchen table in awkward silence. "So, when did you and Jess meet?" Luke asked her, desperately trying to think of something to talk about.

"Well, I had just moved to New York and it was my first day at school," Lorelai began. "I didn't want to brave the cafeteria so I went to the library instead."

"Where, naturally, you found Jess," Luke said sardonically.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah. We made fun of each other's taste in literature. Then we got to talking and he made fun of my name."

"I just didn't believe that was her real name," Jess defended himself. "Who names their kids after mythical creatures?" He stopped himself before he visibly winced. Bad time to bring up children.

"Anyway," Lorelai said, trying to cover up the short but uncomfortable silence, "he became my sort of savior. He shared his locker with me, helped me with math, showed me the quickest routs between classes, that kind of thing." 

Jess blushed slightly, and Luke snorted in disbelief. "Okay, go on," Luke said, looking both interested and amused.

"Well, that holiday break we hung out some. Then he asked me to the Valentine's Day dance the semester after that. Then that summer we made things official." She smiled at Jess, who blushed even more.

"You had her in New York and you still came to Stars Hollow?" Luke asked Jess. "How did you even end up in enough trouble to make your mom flip out in the first place?"

"I made friends with stupid people," Jess said, _really_ not wanting to talk about past screw-ups; it would just make him look even more unprepared for what they were now facing. So he tried to keep it short. "They got in trouble and I got brought home by the cops. Nothing official, just a 'watch your step, kid,' kinda thing. Mom freaked."

"And I told him to come here," Lorelai said.

"You asked me to come here," Jess corrected her gently.

"That's what you think," she replied, smiling. "But, yes, I told him to come. And I made him promise to at least give it a shot."

"And that's why I'm doing relatively well here," Jess said. "It's interesting to think about what I might have done." He smiled a little wistfully. "I could have torn this town asunder."

"Shut up, Holden," Lorelai snapped. "If you'd done that and I'd heard about it I would have come down here to kick your—" She cut herself off and eyed Luke. "Well, I would have kicked you hard." Jess chuckled.

"So why did you come here?" Luke asked. "I mean, I'm sure you've got school, and—"

"Actually, I don't," Lorelai interrupted, and shot Jess a nervous look. "I got my GED."

"Well, what about your parents?"

"My foster parents are expecting me to call them tomorrow to tell them I got here safe. But I'm an emancipated minor, so no one can drag me anywhere I don't want to go." She took a deep breath. "I'm, uh, moving to Stars Hollow?" She hated that she sounded as if she were asking permission.

Luke sat for a moment, completely still. "Oh," he finally managed. "Wow. You must really like this guy a lot, huh?"

Lorelai bit her lip. "I love him," she said, her voice quiet.

"And I love her," Jess cut in, not wanting her to tell Luke all by herself. He had no idea how his uncle would react, but he definitely didn't want to leave her defenseless. Not that he thought his uncle would hurt her, not physically. Emotionally was another story though.

"And the thing is…. When I told Jess to go, that was also the first time I told him I loved him. And the first time that we…." She trailed off and blushed furiously. Luke looked to Jess for translation. He merely raised his eyebrows suggestively, but didn't smile.

"Oh," Luke said, eyebrows raising in surprise. "_Oh_," he said, comprehending. To Jess' surprise, his uncle blushed a little, too. "So, you two, uh…. Well. That's, that's…."

"And I'm pregnant," Lorelai blurted out. Jess reached across the space between them to grip her hand as they waited for the news to sink in.

Again, they'd caught Luke flat-footed in shock. His eyes were wide as he tried to comprehend. "I'm sorry. You're …what? It s-sounded like pregnant?" Lorelai nodded, biting her lip hard, waiting. "And it's Jess'?"

"Luke!" Jess snapped, and almost jumped to his feet. Lorelai held him down.

"It's not an unreasonable question," Luke defended himself. "I mean, you were gone for almost six months…."

"Five," Lorelai said.

"What?"

"He's been gone for five months. And you know how I know? Because that's how far along I am. The obstetrician in New York said so. And Jess is the only person I've ever been with or ever want to be with."

Jess looked at her, and she looked back.

"So, what?" Luke demanded. "What's gonna happen now? Huh, Jess? You're gonna drop out of high school and try to support her and the kid? What about school, Jess? What about money? Where are you going to live? Have you thought about any of this?" Before Jess could answer Luke rounded on Lorelai. "And you. Do you expect him to just drop everything in his life that he's worked hard for and support you? Why did you have to drag him into this?"

At this attack on Lorelai Jess jumped up, dropping her hand. He stood and glared down at his uncle, who still sat. "Luke, shut up," he spat. "For your information, Lorelai has forbidden me from dropping out of school. She's got plans to live here so she didn't have to raise a baby in New York and away from its father. You have absolutely no right to say those things to her. She's doing the best she can with a difficult situation and she's doing damn good. She's got her GED, she's got the skills she needs to get a decent paying job here in Stars Hollow, and she's got the intelligence to do whatever the hell she wants after that."

He stopped and took a deep breath, then looked at his uncle steadily, reigning in the anger. "And you know what, Luke? I'm going to be there for her and for our kid, because I love her, and I already love the baby, who I only found out about today. So if you're not going to be happy that we're going to be a family, you can just go to hell."

Luke stood, forcing Jess to back away from the chair. The older man loomed in front of the younger one for a long moment, their eyes locked. Lorelai thought hysterically that you could almost smell the testosterone. Then the tableau was broken as Luke stormed out.

Jess looked at Lorelai, and realized she was crying. "I'm sorry," she whispered, sounding more miserable than he'd ever heard her. "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble. You were doing well here. Maybe I shouldn't have come here, after all…"

He pulled her to her feet and sat her down on his bed, one of the only other surfaces available. He removed her shoes for her while the tears trickled down her face and she watched him in confusion. When he motioned, she lifted her arms, and he took off her bulky sweater.

Then he handed her a tissue and they stretched out on the bed, on top of the covers. His arms were around her, and she sniffled a little, then relaxed into their comforting circle.

"I do have plans, you know," she began. He just shushed her.

"Come on," he said. "What happened to the playing Scarlet? We'll think about it tomorrow." 

"Okay," she said, and was soon sleeping deeply, while Jess lay awake, unsure whether he was worrying or planning.

  


~*~

  


Luke stormed out of the diner, unsure why he was so angry. The cold that hit him did nothing to diminish the feeling; it just reminded him that he'd stormed out without his coat. He stomped through Stars Hollow, and before he knew it was knocking on Lorelai's apartment door. He was frowning when she opened it, and still frowned when she stepped aside, wordlessly inviting him in.

"What's wrong?" she asked, watching him prowl around the apartment's living room, unsure whether to be concerned or amused that he seemed to be muttering to himself.

"Wrong?" he asked her, almost absently noting her presence.

"Yeah. You're really obviously pissed at something. What is it?"

"You want to know what it is?" Luke demanded. She nodded. "Really? You want to know?" She nodded again, being patient for once since he seemed extremely perturbed. "Fine. You asked for it. Jess' girlfriend is pregnant."

Lorelai's new frown almost matched Luke's. "What? What girlfriend?"

"His girlfriend from New York. She came down for a visit, only it turns out she's moving here because she's five months pregnant with Jess' baby!" Luke shoved his hands through his hair, unmindful that he knocked off his cap.

Lorelai's breath wasn't coming; she was having horrible flashbacks. "What're they going to do?"

"What do you mean, what're they going to do? He's going to throw his life away!"

"Him? What about her? You think a baby isn't going to change her life?" Memories were flooding her, memories that she didn't want flooding her; they were too painful. She tried to fight them by concentrating on the present. "What is he going to do, Luke?"

"He said he's going to be there for her!" Luke said, frustrated. "He said she won't let him drop out of school." Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief. "What are you doing?" he demanded, hearing it. "You're happy about this?"

"Happy that he's taking responsibility, even an interest, for his actions? Yeah, I'm happy about that!" She sat on the couch. "Okay, let's try and calm down. Tell me about what happened."

So Luke related the story to Lorelai, who listened raptly. "So why are you so upset by this?" she asked him.

"Are they stupid?" Luke demanded. "I mean, in this day and age, how hard is it to get condoms? Or to get a prescription for birth control pills? It's ridiculously easy, as a matter of fact. And still, she ends up pregnant. What's wrong with them?"

"Sometimes things happen," Lorelai murmured, and something in her tone must have alerted him, because he looked at her strangely before going back to his own problem. "Look, even if they were stupid, they are paying for their mistakes. And you said that she basically graduated from high school, got herself to be an adult in the eyes of the law, and is trying to start a new life with the baby's father? Why are you so mad?"

"He was doing so well," Luke ground out. "Not that he was doing fantastically in school or anything, but he was getting by just fine, and he was working, and he wasn't getting in trouble. By all accounts his life here is better than it ever was in New York. And now this."

"So…she's ruined his life."

"Well, not according to him…he loves her," Luke said. "But this is certainly going to change it."

Lorelai thought. "Does Jess have any friends?" Luke looked at her questioningly. "Just answer the question. Does he have any friends in Stars Hollow? Does he ever go out with friends to see a movie? Does he have anyone he hangs out with at school?"

"Well, no," Luke said. "But I don't see what that has to do with—"

She fought wistful envy as she tried to explain how she saw the situation. "Now that she's here, he's with a person he loves. Soon to be two people, if what you said was true." She bit her lip and ventured, "Maybe with her, New York was better. But without her here, Stars Hollow was just a place where he was. Now, while she and the baby are here, it's a place he wants to be. Think how much better he'll do if he wants to do this."

They sat in silence for a long time. Finally, Luke sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Maybe you're right," he said. "Maybe," he said emphatically, then sighed. "And maybe I overreacted just a little bit."

Lorelai laughed, but there was no humor in the sound, making Luke look at her hard. "Trust me, Luke, you had the normal parent's reaction to the news," she told him.

"How would you know?" Luke murmured, watching her closely. The question wasn't harsh, or even very probing. He waited.

She shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and didn't meet his eyes for a long time, until she couldn't take it anymore and looked up. She found him studying her intently, a strange comprehension in his expression.

"Lorelai," he said, gently, quietly.

"I had a baby when I was sixteen," she blurted out. She heaved a huge sigh and pressed her palms over her eyes, trying to press the threatening tears back where they had come from. "God. I haven't talked about this with anyone. I've never told anyone this, except the ones who already knew. I was such a kid. My boyfriend…he didn't want to believe it at first. Then he asked, 'What are you going to do?' and I knew I was all alone. And when I told my parents…. Now, that was a disaster. Finally, I decided what I was going to do. I gave it up for adoption." The tears broke free.

"I had a little baby girl," she sobbed, and was shocked when Luke's arms found their way around her. "I got to hold her once, then she was taken away. I was told there was a couple ready to adopt her, already in the hospital. And I was happy that she was going to people who wanted her so much, but I wanted to keep her. I wanted to keep her so badly in that one moment where I got to hold her in my arms." She raised her face to Luke. "She was so beautiful," she whispered, eyes focused on something far away.

"Then my parents came," she added, hiccuping, losing what little pleasure she had in the memories. "And they agreed she was beautiful, but told me she would ruin my life. Maybe they were right. Maybe they were wrong. I don't think it really matters any more. The worst part, though, is I don't know anything about her. I know her birthday; I know how old she is, to the day. She's seventeen years, four months and one week. I know she was born in Hartford, Connecticut. I have a daughter out there somewhere, who I know basically nothing about. And every day I see a mother with a child, I think, 'That could have been me. If I'd stuck it out, I could be that mother with that child and be happy.'" She wiped her eyes hastily with her fingertips, and chuckled.

"As if I even know it would have turned out all right," she said, and sniffed. To her surprise, she found a box of Kleenex in front of her eyes, and plucked one out of the box. "I mean, right now I could be stuck in a slum in Chicago with a kid who hated me, working a dead-end waitress job. It's useless to wonder about what might have been, isn't it? I mean, I'm here, now, crying …and soaking your nice flannel shirt."

"Don't worry about it," Luke said, rubbing her back gently. "What're friends for?"

They sat in silence broken only by Lorelai blowing her nose for a few long minutes, absorbing the new level of friendship they'd reached. "Well, I think it's amusing considering you came here to complain at me for a change," she said, obviously feeling more than a little embarrassed about her emotional purge. "And here I manage to turn it all around again." She pulled back, still sniffling.

"Actually," Luke said, "you haven't. You've given me something to think about. I'm not good at that whole perspective thing in general," he said, as if in confidence. "I think I'll go home now, apologize to them. I hope they take it, and whatever help I can give them."

"Good," Lorelai said, still wiping her nose and eyes. "Go. Apologize. Be happy. And I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll have a special mug of coffee waiting just for you," he said, and smiled at her over his shoulder as he left.

  


~*~

  


Luke cautiously opened the door to the apartment, making sure it stayed quiet. He flinched slightly when he saw Lorelai…the younger Lorelai…and Jess lying in each other's arms on the bed. His back straightened when he saw Jess watching him without expression on his face.

Luke waited while Jess extracted himself from Lorelai, taking care not to wake her. By mutual accord, they went down into the diner, where Jess promptly took out a doughnut and started munching, waiting for his uncle to speak. "You know, I don't know anything about her," Luke said. He had a nagging suspicion that he wanted to check out. "She's been your girlfriend for…what? Over a year, year and a half, and five of those months you've lived here. And I don't know anything about her?"

"All you had to do was ask," Jess said.

"What's her full name?"

"Lorelai Lynn Collins."

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"Birthday."

"October 8, 1984." Jess began to look amused. "Gonna break out the Chinese water torture until I give you her name, rank and social security number?"

"Where was she born?"

"Hartford, Connecticut." 

Luke did some quick mental calculations. She was the right age. She looked right, and she was born in the right place. He wasn't sure he liked what conclusion he arrived at, but it was what it was. "I don't suppose she was adopted, was she?" he asked, and almost smiled when Jess choked on his doughnut, inhaling a little powdered sugar and coughing.

"I'll take that as a yes," Luke said, and raked his hand through his hair. "Did you know that Lorelai…crazy Inn-owning Lorelai is most likely your girlfriend Lorelai's birth mother?" Jess nodded, still trying to suck in air. "What…you did?" Luke demanded. Jess nodded again. In an effort to get information quicker, Luke got him some water to help clear out his throat. "How did you know that?" Luke demanded when Jess could talk again.

So Jess told him all about his Lorelai, about her adoptive parents and how she found out about her name. "I would have put it together if I'd just heard Gilmore's first name before today."

"So, what are you going to do?" Jess shrugged. "Come on, Jess," he said chidingly. "This is your kid's grandmother." 

"And wouldn't she love to hear that?" Jess asked, shuddering at the very thought.

"Listen, Jess, about what I said tonight. I didn't…it was just a shock." Jess stared at his uncle, waiting. "I'll take care of Lorelai for tomorrow while you're in school. I will be apologizing to her." The two men nodded in understanding. "Now, back to the whole multiple-Lorelais situation," Luke said.

"Just call her Lori," Jess suggested. "I think she likes that, anyway."

"What I meant was do we tell them about each other," Luke said. Jess shook his head hard. "Why not?"

"We need to do some research first," Jess said. "What if they don't want to find each other? I know Lorelai hasn't said anything to me about it, but I haven't asked."

"Lorelai …er, Gilmore wants to find her," Luke said shortly. "She's regretted giving her up for years. I think it would help, though, if she heard that she'd gotten parents who loved her and that she loved. This is a small town Jess; they're going to find each other sooner or later."

"Yeah," Jess said. "Do we want to come up with a strategy for that moment?"

"Act innocent and shocked?" Luke suggested.

"Or smugly satisfied, as if we'd planned it all out that way."

"That might get us lynched."

"Good point." Jess sighed. "I love her, Luke," he said, quietly, not looking at the older man. "And I love the baby. I can't wait to be there for her." Luke nodded, and the two went upstairs for some much-needed sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**_

Chapter 10

_**

Lorelai woke to the heavenly smells of food wafting up from the diner below. She sat up and stretched, smiling slightly when she saw a note on the pillow next to her.

"I'll be home right after school. Luke wants to apologize for what he said last night. It's up to you whether to forgive him or not. He said the worst things to you. Your shampoo and stuff is in the bathroom. Feel free to use the shower this morning, and whatever else you need. The blue towel's for you. I love you, and I'll see you this afternoon. Jess." 

Nodding to no one, she got up and found the bathroom in the tiny closet of a space. Sure enough, the shampoo, conditioner, body wash and loofah she'd had in her bag were sitting neatly on a shelf in the stall. "He takes such good care of me," she murmured to herself, or maybe to her baby, she didn't know.

After she showered, she dressed from her bag. As she was combing through her hair for the millionth time she realized she was stalling going down into the diner. What would happen? She couldn't even begin to imagine the possibilities.

"Nevertheless," she said to herself. "You have to go down there. If only because we're starving," she added as her stomach let out a loud protest. She rubbed her hand over her belly. Her baby wasn't as active as she'd heard other women complaining about, and had commented on that to the obstetrician during the last check up. Her doctor had said the baby was perfectly healthy, and it wasn't really anything to worry about.

She let her feet carry her downstairs and through the curtain separating the stairway from the diner proper. The diner's noise level dropped considerably when she emerged, and she attempted to ignore it. "Hey, Luke," she said hesitantly, sliding onto a stool at the counter.

"Uh, hi," Luke said. They stayed in awkward silence for a long moment. "Um, look. About what I said to you last night. I was…wrong, and out of line, and…I'm sorry."

"Do I get coffee?" Lorelai asked, fighting a smile at the sight of an obviously uncomfortable Luke.

He frowned and asked pointedly, "Decaf?" She nodded, and so did he, setting a mug in front of her. "Anything else this morning?"

"Are you still serving breakfast?" she asked, not knowing what his policies were. It was nearly noon after all.

"We serve our entire menu all day," Luke told her.

"Wow," she said. "You mean I can get a big stack of pancakes at eight at night?" She smiled brightly at him. "I'm going to remember that." She bit her lip, thinking. "I think I'll have some French toast, hash browns, two eggs and a couple sausage patties."

Luke made a face. "Are you sure you wanna eat all that?"

"Hmm," she said. "You're right. I should have something healthy, too. Do you have any fruit syrups to go on the French toast?" She almost laughed at the face Luke made, and did laugh when he said, "We've got blueberry."

"Then I'll take blueberry syrup on my French toast. Thanks, Luke," she called after him.

When he was gone, she pulled out the book she'd been reading, then remembered her plans. "Oh, Luke," she called when he was back behind the counter. "Does Stars Hollow have a newspaper?"

"Stars Hollow Gazette," Luke told her. "There's a dispenser just outside. You need change?" 

She thanked him and shook her head. "I'll be right back. Just leave the food if it comes before I get back."

She wove through the tables and out into the street, surprised at the bite in the air for such a clear day. Squinting against the glare of the snow, she made her way down the sidewalk towards the bright blue-painted newspaper dispenser. She studied the headlines as she fished a few quarters out of her pocket, and laughed at a few that had a very satirical quality to them.

When she was comfortably settled on the stool again, she opened the newspaper to the want ad section and began browsing for a job. There wasn't much, but she really didn't expect there to be in a town this size. The video store was hiring, but she didn't really want to do retail. Al's Pancake World was hiring, but it was for waitstaff only, and she definitely wasn't up for that.

She circled the few promising ads there were and was just closing up the paper when Luke came and deposited her food on the counter. "Hey, Luke?" she began shyly. "Can I use the phone? I need to call Janet and Larry, give them an address where they can send my stuff. Tell them I arrived okay, that sort of thing."

"Yeah, sure," Luke said. He took one step away, then turned back. "Who are Janet and Larry, exactly?"

Lorelai had to finish her bite of hash browns smothered in ketchup before she could answer. "They're…they were my foster parents. I've lived with them as long as I've known Jess." Luke nodded understandingly. "So…," he asked. "What'd you want a paper for?"

She blushed, remembering his words from last night. "I'm looking for a job. And an apartment."

"The one before the other, right?" Luke asked.

"Doesn't have to be," she said. "I've got some money my parents left me, so I could do the apartment thing if I needed to."

"You know you can stay with us," Luke told her, feeling horrible about what he'd said the night before. "I mean it. Jess likes the couch." Lorelai laughed in response.

"I know I'm welcome upstairs," she said quietly. "But…what about later? I'm going to need my own space. For me and for…." She trailed off. 

He nodded again. "Are you going to ask Jess to move in with you?" he asked, sounding concerned. She shook her head. 

"He'll move in only if he wants to. I mean, I don't know how much he makes working here at the diner, but…I don't know." She sighed heavily. "We have a lot to talk about tonight when he gets home from school."

"Well, I'll let you get on with it," Luke said, and went to serve the other customers.

Lorelai finished her breakfast, and went upstairs to call Janet and Larry. They asked how Jess had reacted to the news, and were relieved that he'd reacted so well. "But I'm not sure it's hit him, yet," she told them. "I mean, I keep expecting him to freak out about it." They assured her that Jess wouldn't do any such thing, and took the address of the diner so they could ship her stuff soon.

"You're sure about this, hon?" Janet asked her one last time. "You know you can come back here anytime you like for as long as you need."

"I do know that, and don't think I don't appreciate it. But, yes, I'm sure," Lorelai said. "I'm looking for a job today, and an apartment. And Luke says I can stay here as long as I want. And I want you guys to promise me that as soon as you can get away you'll come to visit me."

They fervently promised her. "Call us if you need us," they made her promise back.

"I'll call you every week," she told them, "just so I can bug you with the goings-on of small-town life." She was smiling again as she hung up the phone. She'd been very fortunate with her foster parents, and she knew it.

But this was her new life, and she was going to enjoy it. Grabbing her coat, she left the diner with a shouted, "Bye!" to Luke. With the newspaper in her pocket, she marched into town to seek out her new life.

  


~*~

  


Three hours later, she'd exhausted the want ads, and herself with her running around. "You look tired," Luke said to her.

"Coffee, please," she replied, making as pathetic a face as she had the energy to. "There is not a single job available to me in this town," she told him. "Most of them have been filled already, and the ones that weren't I won't be able to do in a few months."

"I don't suppose you've checked with Miss Patty?" Luke asked.

"I think Jess and I met her last night when he was showing me around. Why would I ask her?"

"She pretty much knows everything about this town," Luke told her. "Which is a nice way of saying she's a nosy gossip. If there's anyone who's hiring but not advertising yet, she would know."

"Where is she?" Lorelai asked, some energy returning at the smell of the coffee Luke set in front of her in a take-out cup. He gave her directions to the dance studio, and she set out with renewed purpose.

She knocked on the open door of the studio, and saw a woman sitting on a mat and smoking a cigarette. She stepped upwind of the smoke, and called out, "Hello? Miss Patty?"

"Yes, dear, what can I do for you?" the serene voice answered.

"Well, someone told me you were the person to come to if I want to find a job here in Stars Hollow."

Interested eyes inspected her quickly. "Do we have a new resident in town?" Lorelai nodded. In a surprisingly graceful move for such a large woman, Miss Patty got to her feet. "So, what do you do, dear?"

"Well, I'm a reporter by trade," she told her.

"Hmm," Miss Patty said. "There's no free jobs at the newspaper."

"I didn't think there would be," Lorelai answered honestly.

"What else?"

"Um…I'm okay with people."

"Do you like to clean?"

"How do you mean? I'm sorry, but can you please stand down wind? Second-hand smoke is bad for my baby."

She managed to shock even Miss Patty with that. The older woman quickly stabbed out her cigarette butt and appraised her more closely. "You have a baby?"

Lorelai blushed, but held her head high. "Not yet, but I'm pregnant. And cigarette smoke is extremely dangerous for a fetus."

"I wish you'd told me that sooner," Miss Patty said. "I wouldn't have been smoking at all. I'm sorry, dear," she added. She visibly pondered for a moment. "I have the perfect thing. The Inn has a new owner, and some of the old people have quit. Now, she hasn't started advertising yet, but I bet you'd get a good position as a maid or desk help if you went there right now."

"Really?" Lorelai asked. "Someone's really hiring?"

"Of course, dear," Miss Patty said. "Now," she said, and leaned towards Lorelai conspiratorially. "Who's the father?" Lorelai bit her lip. "Is Jess the father?" Miss Patty continued to press.

"Yes," Lorelai said.

"Does he know?" 

She nodded. "Miss Patty, I would really, really appreciate it if you wouldn't spread this around too much," she said, but knew it was futile. People like Miss Patty couldn't keep a secret; it wasn't because they were malicious, it just wasn't in their natures.

"It'll remain strictly between us, dear," Miss Patty said, looking as if she meant it. Nonetheless, Lorelai prepared herself for whispers behind her back.

Her last few days of school, she'd gotten used to having people whisper about her. Teen pregnancies weren't uncommon, but no one thought Lorelai Collins would ever be one of those unfortunate girls. She shrugged off thoughts of New York and enjoyed the scenic walk to the Inn. 

She went into the lobby. "Busy place," she murmured to herself, watching people coming and going. She finally got up the nerve to approach the desk, and the woman standing behind it.

"Hello. How can I help you?" the woman asked, straightening her glasses and smiling slightly.

"Hello," Lorelai said. "I was informed there might be jobs available here?"

"By whom?"

"Miss Patty."

The woman nodded. "Well, there are two maid positions open, and one here at the desk. I'm leaving soon for another job and they need someone to replace me."

Lorelai bit her lip. "What would that job entail?"

The woman thought. "Well, you'd be taking phone calls for information and reservations. Keeping records for guests—repeat business and their preferences. If we had any functions going on here you'd be an assistant to the coordinator."

"That sounds do-able," Lorelai said hopefully. "Though it's probably harder than it sounds, huh?" The woman nodded sympathetically. "Are there any qualifications I'd need?"

"Not really," the woman said. "Experience would be nice, but mostly you just need to be polite and handle the phones competently."

Lorelai blew out a breath. "Well, okay. Where can I apply?"

"Come with me and I'll give you some forms to fill out."

The forms caused Lorelai to bite her nails a few times, hoping the honest answers wouldn't be too much of a turn-off for the employer. But by the end of the half-hour it took, she felt confident that even if she didn't get the desk job, she could easily get one of the maid positions.

It was nearly four in the afternoon when she got back to Luke's. Jess smiled, and moved to meet her at the door with a big hug. She closed her eyes, feeling safe in his embrace. "We'll be upstairs," Jess told Luke.

"Fine," Luke said. "Be back down for the dinner rush."

Jess merely nodded and kept his arm around Lorelai's waist as they climbed the stairs.

"So, that was her, huh?" asked the brunet sitting at the counter, watching the retreating couple.

"Yup, that was her," Luke said, pretty sure his heart was beating much faster than was healthy at having the two Lorelais within three feet of each other.

"Huh. She's pretty." Luke had to fight back a comment about genetics. Jess was right, they shouldn't interfere when things would happen naturally anyway. "So…did you apologize?" Luke nodded. "And they accepted?" Luke nodded again. "Great. What are they gonna do?"

"I dunno," Luke said. "I imagine that's what they're talking about now. She was looking for a job today. Don't know if she had any luck. I sent her to Miss Patty."

"Huh," Lorelai said again. "I wonder…."

"Wonder what?"

"It's just that I told Miss Patty that I was thinking of hiring some more people, 'cause I knew that as soon as she knew the whole town would. I wonder if she referred her to the Inn." Lorelai took a gulp of her coffee, so she missed Luke's wince. He couldn't help it: this was getting way too complicated for him. Any minute now, he expected one or both of them to find out and go ballistic…or however they would react.

Luke made a noncommittal noise. "She's also looking for an apartment, but I don't know if she asked Miss Patty about that."

"That Miss Patty," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "She sure is a wealth of information, isn't she?"

"She's a lecher and a gossip," Luke grumbled.

"Oh, come on," Lorelai said, smiling mischievously. "You listen to her gossip same as everyone else, admit it." Luke tore off her bill from the pad he'd been scribbling on, slapped it on the counter and went to fill some coffee mugs. Lorelai laughed after him.


	11. Chapter 11

**_

Chapter 11

_**

Jess and Lorelai entered the apartment and stopped inside the door, unsure how to approach the subject. "Where does one sit to have deep and meaningful discussions about the future?" Lorelai asked him, nervous about everything that was coming.

"Well, first we get rid of bulky winter coats," Jess said, and helped her off with the garment. "After that, I don't know," he admitted. "The couch is always a good bet when you're unsure, though." They maneuvered through the space and sat on the piece of furniture in question.

"So…how do we start?" she asked him, biting her lip in nervousness.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me how you envisioned it when you got on the bus to come here?"

"Well," she began. "First, I more than half expected you to freak out. So glad you didn't, by the way, but if you need to freak out, please get it over with."

"Did you freak out?" he asked. "It is your body."

"I know," she said. "And, yes, I did freak out. When I first found out, I didn't go to school for three days. I just laid in bed and read almost all my books again, one after another so I wouldn't have to think about it. I didn't sleep, either, which I'm sure wasn't good for the baby." 

"That reminds me," Jess said, and went to grab his book bag from beside the door. "I went to the library and got this." He handed her a copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting, making her laugh. "What? I needed to do some research. There's so much I want to know about the timing of things. When can we find out the sex of the baby?"

Lorelai bit her lip. "You can actually tell at about two months," she told him. "But I was so nervous, and I'm not really sure I want to know. Oh! The sonogram pictures!" She leapt up and went to fetch her bag, digging inside for the notebook with the pictures pressed between the pages. For a few minutes, she and Jess tried to decipher the vague silver blobs before Jess brought them back to the subject.

"Anyway, you expected me to freak out. Then what?"

"Well, I was planning on getting a job and an apartment. I got a lead for the first and haven't even begun to investigate the other," she told him. When she told him she'd applied for a job at the Inn, he got a funny look on his face. It was gone so quickly she decided not to comment on it.

"So, am I going to live with you when you do get an apartment?"

Now she bit her lip and looked away. "Only if you want to. I know you don't make much money here, and I won't let you drop out of school, so I won't expect you to pay rent."

Jess thought about whether it would bother him to be living off his girlfriend's paycheck, and discovered it did, just a little, though. "I will be finding a different job after I graduate," he said.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like I don't know," he answered. "But I'll find something that pays a little better."

"What if you tried to sell one of your stories?"

Jess' expression immediately closed off. "They're not good enough to sell, Lor," he said. She disagreed, but figured he wouldn't talk about it; she knew that look far too well.

"What about college?" she asked, rather than pursue his writing any further.

"I could ask you the same question," he returned. She shook her head.

"I can't go now," she said, laying a hand on her stomach.

"What about a few years from now?" he asked. "Even one year from now, you could go to night classes."

"So could you," she countered. Then she sighed. "I think we're at an impasse with this. Would you want to move in when I get an apartment?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "'When?' Not 'if?'" he asked.

"Jess," she sighed. "I'm not living in this tiny place with you, Luke and the baby. I just couldn't do it. There's barely enough room for a crib in here, much less the stuff that Janet and Larry are shipping for me."

"Yeah, you're right." He raked his hands through his hair. "So, when are you going to get an apartment?"

"I was going to start looking tomorrow, while I wait to see if my application at the Independence Inn will be accepted."

"Now? Before you're even sure you have a job?"

There was a pause in the conversation while Lorelai bit her lip. "There's something I haven't told you, Jess," Lorelai said.

Jess sighed. "Something else, you mean? Forget I said that," he added, seeing the stricken look on her face. "Just tell me."

"My parents left me some money. It's being held for me until I turn eighteen, but Janet and Larry are giving me some of it up front. They don't have any control over it," she added. "They've just got some money they can do without for a while, so they're lending me some of it, to be paid back once I have access."

"How much money are we talking?" Jess asked her.

"Well…kind of a lot," she admitted. "My parents both had life insurance policies. They weren't big, but together they equal a lot more money than I'd have otherwise. And they had some investments: they owned the apartment we lived in, and it sold right after I came to New York. There were a few blue chip stocks that were cashed in." She did some mental calculations. "I think, all told it comes to around one hundred and fifty to seventy-five thousand."

Jess honestly thought his heart stopped for a second. "What?" he demanded. "No, wait," he added, holding up a hand. "Don't say it again. I don't think my heart could take it."

"Jess?" she asked, concerned, wondering whether she should have told him or not.

"How much are Janet and Larry fronting?"

"About fifteen thousand," she said. "That's all they can afford, and if they hadn't insisted I never would have taken it."

"Lor," he said, trying to take it all in. "All that's enough for a full four-year tuition, probably for all of us." She nodded. "Depending on the college, of course," he added, thinking. "Jeez," he muttered, and raked a hand through his hair again. "So…what? We'd be using that to supplement your income if we lived together?"

"That was my plan," Lorelai said. "So…you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" he asked.

"Well, that I didn't tell you before, that I've got money that you don't…I don't know, there's lots of reasons compounded why you should be mad at me."

"Lor," he said, and to her surprise he took her hand. "It's great that we've got that kind of money to fall back on. Especially since I don't know what I want to do after graduation." She squelched the urge to tell him to edit his stories, maybe type them up and send them to publishers. He was afraid, and she respected that.

They sat in silence for a while. "But that's at least a year, more like two, away, right?" she asked.

"Well," Jess said consideringly. "I went to go see my counselor today, and he said that if I really push myself, I might be able to graduate after the first semester next year."

"Push yourself how?" she asked.

"Only have one free period from now until then," he said. "Right now, I could change my schedule and add another two classes."

"If that's what you want to do," she said, biting her lip. "I think you should. But I don't think you should do it just because of me. It sounds like it might be stressful for you."

"Nah," Jess said. "I wouldn't even have to work any harder than I do now," he told her. "I just need to pass those classes and I'm set."

"Well, great," she said. "If you're going to do it, do it quickly," she added.

"I already signed the add-a-class forms," he told her.

"Oh."

They fell into silence. "Hey, Lorelai," he began hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Did you still think about…I don't know, looking for your birth mother?" He looked up in time to see her shaking her head frantically. "Why not?"

"Why not?" she demanded incrdulously. "How can you ask me 'why not?' Because I'm _pregnant_!" He looked at her, waiting for elaboration. "Do you remember why I was put up for adoption?"

"She was…" Jess trailed off, comprehending.

"Sixteen! My birth mother was sixteen when I was born. I'm seventeen now." She threw her hands up in the air. "Wouldn't it be wonderful to find my birth mother. As if that's not enough of a shock to her; Hi, I'm the daughter you gave up for adoption seventeen years ago, how are you doing? I've also got to deliver the news that she's about to be a grandmother at the age of thirty-three!" She rammed her hands through her hair while Jess cursed internally; he hadn't looked at it like that. This was not going to turn out well, or if it did, it would be a miracle.

It wasn't as if the situation was his doing: he hadn't forced either one to come here, and he hadn't pointed her to the Inn as a working place. He hadn't made Stars Hollow so small they were going to run into each other sooner or later, and it would most likely be sooner. Or some well-meaning townsperson would point out that there were two Lorelais. Or they could run into each other in the diner, since Gilmore couldn't cook worth anything and ate most of her meals there.

It wasn't his fault. It was a huge string of coincidences that he had nothing to do with. 

"Lorelai," he said, trying to be soothing. He put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed gently. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…. Well, I didn't mean to stress you out."

Lorelai laughed slightly. "I know, Jess," she said, and one of her hands slipped from her hair to cover his. "I do know that. And believe me, the thought crossed my mind to look for her. It also crossed my mind that it'd be nice to have someone to talk to who's been through the whole teen pregnancy thing, or even a pregnancy thing at all. Janet has never had kids, and my mom is, of course, dead, and…what am I talking about? My mom never had kids, either!" She scoffed. "So, yeah, it occurred to me to find my birth mother."

"You just came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a good thing," Jess said. When she nodded, he took a deep breath. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe she wants to be found? Or to find you? It's really common for mothers to try and find their children after they've been put up for adoption."

"How do you know?" Lorelai asked without venom, leaning on his shoulder tiredly.

"After I came here, I started doing some research on adoptions," he told her, truthfully. "I was curious how it all happened. It's changed a lot since it happened to you. Now, adoptive parents know–are even friends with—the parents or mother, at least, of the baby they're adopting. Oftentimes in the last few years, that parent is an active part of the child's and the adoptive parents' lives."

"But not when I was adopted," she said dully. "Back then it was a scandal, hidden away, not to be talked about, or even thought about." Jess nodded sadly. "Well, if she shows up at my door, I'm not going to turn her away. But I'm not going to seek her out." She shoved her way free of the couch. "Look, I've been running around all day. I'm starving. Can we go get something to eat?"

Jess nodded, and they headed down to the diner side by side.

After eating a substantial dinner, Lorelai again picked up the newspaper and began looking at the apartment listings. "Ooh," she said, leaning over their empty dishes to show Jess an ad. "What about this one?"

"No good," Jess said, shaking his head. "That one's owned by Taylor. He's insane. He flipped out when I pulled a little prank and tried to run me out of town. Good thing no one else was listening to him, otherwise I would've been back in New York."

"Huh," Lorelai said. "Then, this Taylor is…"

"A control freak," Jess said factually. "Try not to pick one of his properties. I bet he wouldn't be too fond of you, either. He's conservative, as well as a control freak," he added. She nodded in comprehension.

"So, how do you know he owns that?"

"When mom finally sent my stuff here, the place was so crowded we considered moving into an apartment."

"Ah," she said. "So that's why it's so cluttered up there."

"It's better than it was," he answered. "It was kind of funny, actually. Luke dragged me around town, looking at apartments, and then he found out Taylor owned the one we'd finally settled on, and was trying to buy the building next door. So, I'm sitting on my bed, and Luke comes in and tells me to put everything in boxes because we're adding onto the apartment. Turns out he laid down a hundred grand to beat Taylor out of the property. So, the apartment we're living in now is actually a lot bigger than the one we started out in." 

Lorelai looked confused for a moment. "So…what's Luke doing with the building next door?"

Jess shrugged. "Don't know. He just bought it to keep the control freak from getting it." He looked at his watch. "Well, I gotta get to work. You gonna stay up here or go upstairs?"

"I'll stay down here," she told him. "But I'll sit at the counter, let someone else have the table."

"You're so considerate," Jess said drolly.

"No, I just like to watch you work," she confided in his ear as he bent to pick up the plates, which he nearly dropped before he got a hold of himself. 

He gave her a long hard look before he spoke next. "None of your distractions, miss," he told her sternly. "Just sit at the counter and read your paper."

She smiled cheekily at him, but sat on a stool and spread the paper out in front of her. She circled a few possibilities, but for the most part the apartments advertised were roommate situations, and she definitely wasn't the best candidate for that. Or, rather, they weren't; though whether that meant she and the baby or she and Jess and the baby, she didn't know.

By the end of the night the paper was a jumble of black pen marks over black ink, until it was almost illegible. Again, she helped Luke and Jess put the chairs back up.

"Is that good for the baby?" Luke asked, eyeing her warily.

She shrugged. "I don't imagine exercise of any kind could be bad for the baby," she said. "But I'll have to look it up. There's a lot I have to look up," she added under her breath. She turned to Jess. "I have to find an obstetrician," she told him. "I'm not due for a checkup for about two weeks, but I need someone to call on in case of emergency."

"Do you have insurance?" Luke asked, and scowled when she shook her head. "You should have insurance," he told her sternly.

"I know," she said. "That's why I'm so hopeful about the job at that Inn. It's got benefits no matter if you're a maid or the desk help or a cook. But if I don't get the job, then I'll just have to pay for the doctors."

"What about the hospital?" Jess demanded. "How much is it going to cost for you to deliver the baby?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, Jess." She wasn't going to snap at him: he had more right to ask these questions than anyone else, and she was beyond glad he was taking the news so well. It definitely wouldn't be prudent to pay back his not flipping out by snapping at him.

"Why don't we look through that baby book I got together?" he asked her.

"You've got homework," Luke broke in.

Jess shook his head. "Not for my morning classes tomorrow, and I can get my other homework done at lunch, easy."

"You promise?" Lorelai asked, looking him in the eye.

"I always did homework at lunch with you," he reminded her. She knew that, so she merely nodded.

They went upstairs and sat on the couch for about an hour reading the baby book Jess had gotten at the library.


	12. Chapter 12

**_

Chapter 12

_**

The next morning, Lorelai woke to find her stomach protesting that it wanted breakfast. She dressed and put up her hair, glancing at the clock as she did so. It was about ten, so she went downstairs and sat at the counter. "Good morning," she said happily to Luke.

"Hey," he said. "What'll it be this morning?"

"Hmm," she murmured, looking over the menu. She rattled off a long list of food, and once again Luke rolled his eyes, but filled her order. "Oh, and, of course, coffee. Decaf, naturally," she added. "I've gotten used to it." She saw a slightly hopeful gleam in Luke's eyes. "Not that I'm going to drink it forever. As soon as this kid is born, I'm going back to the leaded stuff." Luke sighed and went to wait on other customers.

She finished her breakfast. "Luke," she asked. "Can I use the phone upstairs?"

"You don't have to ask permission," he told her. "Just use it for whatever you need."

She grinned and blinked innocently. "You mean I can call my pen pal in Australia?" She laughed out loud at the look he leveled at her, and went back upstairs. She dialed the numbers for the apartments she'd circled the night before, and set things up with the realtor (who handled all of them) to look them over for one that afternoon.

  


~*~

  


After three that afternoon, Lorelai slid onto one of the stools at the counter, smiling. Luke greeted her with a mug of decaffeinated coffee. "I take it the apartment hunt went well?" he asked. She nodded.

"I filled out an application for two, one furnished, one not. I hope I get the furnished," she confided. "It cost the same amount as the unfurnished, because that one is bigger. But I don't need three bedrooms, a full kitchen and a bath and a half, do I? The rent in Stars Hollow is kind of high. Oh," she added. "Is it okay that I put you down as a reference? 'Cause I only had two, with Janet and Larry, and they wanted three. And they had to be adults."

"No problem," he said.

"Thanks," she said. "I tried to call, but the phone was busy."

"Probably at lunch: I get a lot of pick-up orders at lunchtime." She nodded sagely, and sipped her coffee.

"So when does Jess get out of school?"

"Just about now," Jess said from behind her. She spun and grinned up at him. "You're happy," he added, and sat on the stool next to her. "I guess you found an apartment?"

She nodded. "Well, if they take my application. I'll have a furnished apartment. Two bedrooms, one bath, and a living room slash kitchen. It's a nice little space, perfect, really. And even the furniture's nice," she added. Jess smiled.

"Sounds great," he said. "The other bedroom going to be a nursery?" Lorelai nodded, smiling.

"I really hope I get that apartment," she said. "I don't know if I will, though, or if I'll get an apartment at all. I'm not sure whether my being emancipated will help me or not."

Jess slid an arm around her, though the angle was a bit awkward from separate stools. "We'll think of something, Lor, don't worry."

She leaned into him gratefully, her hand unconsciously covering her belly. The phone rang, but she was too content to even move her head, so she ignored the sound.

"It's for you," he told her, an eyebrow quirking.

"Oh, thanks," Lorelai said. She moved behind the counter to take the phone from him, and tried to position herself so she'd be out of everyone's way. "Hello?"

"Is this Lorelai Collins?" the person on the other end asked.

"Yes, this is she," Lorelai responded politely.

"This is Mr. Kingman. I'm calling from the Independence Inn, to see if I could schedule an appointment for an interview."

"With me?" Lorelai nearly squeaked.

The man on the other end laughed slightly. "Yes, with you. When would be good for you?"

"Oh," she said, thinking quickly. "Anytime is good. Do you have any specific openings?"

The man made a humming noise and in the background she could hear pages being flipped. "How about eleven tomorrow?"

"That sounds great," she said cheerfully. "I guess I'll see you then. Oh," she added when he'd almost hung up.

"Yes?"

"Where should I go? Do you have an office?"

"Just ask the front desk clerk to direct you."

"Oh," she said. "Thank you."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good bye."

She hung up the phone, feeling as if her face was going to split apart from smiling so hard.

"Who was that?" Jess asked. 

"A man who works at the Inn. He called to schedule an interview."

"That's great!" He swept her up in a hug, and grinned at her. "Now what?"

"Well…there's lots to do," she said. "I have to find the copy of my resume I've got, and I've got to make sure the professional clothes I packed in the duffle bag are clean, and then I've got to rehearse the interview until I know exactly what I'm going to say."

Jess blinked. "Okay," he said. "Let's go and do all that stuff. You can help me with my homework when you're done."

She smiled. "Sounds good. Are you working tonight?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Slow night. Caesar's the only one really needed."

They headed upstairs to get to work.

  


~*~

  


She was so nervous she almost didn't eat breakfast. "You have to eat something," Luke insisted. "Just have a bowl of cereal or something to tide you over until you get over the nervousness."

In the end, Lorelai succumbed to his demands and ate a bowl of corn flakes. It was endearing most of the time that Luke was so worried about her health, and the health of the baby. It would no doubt get a little annoying, she knew, but for now it was sweet.

"Wish me luck," she said as she left the diner.

She calmed somewhat on the walk to the Inn, and was grateful for the time to collect herself.

"Hello," the woman at the desk said, and Lorelai recognized her from before. "Pierce told me there was someone coming in for an interview this morning. I assume you're it?" When Lorelai nodded, the woman said with a smile, "You're early."

"I'm always early when I'm nervous," she confessed. "I rush myself because I'm afraid of being late. Should I wait here, or is there a waiting room outside where the interview is?"

"You can just take a seat in the lobby, if you'd like," the woman said. "I'll let you know when Pierce is ready for you."

"Thank you. By the way, I'm Lorelai Collins," she added, and reached out to shake hands. The woman made a strange face. "I know it sounds like a nickname, but it's really not," Lorelai said, knowing the question that was coming. "My boyfriend didn't believe me the first time he heard my name, either. He made fun of it."

"All names have their good and bad qualities," the woman said. "My name's Stephanie. I'd say it'll be a pleasure working with you, but I am leaving in just a few days." She smiled slightly. "I'm almost sorry."

She was obviously about to say more, but customers converged on the front desk, and Lorelai moved to sit in one of the comfortable antique chairs. While she sat, she went over the answers she had prepared in her mind, and made sure once again that her resume was in her possession. She also checked her outfit one more time: Nice slacks that didn't look maternity but were, and a loose blouse and sedate vest over it. Professional looking, and it hid her bulging stomach, at least for now. Very soon she would be unable to hide it.

"Ms. Collins?" Stephanie said, sounding formal. Lorelai looked up. "Please follow me." Stephanie led her down a hallway towards what looked like a couple offices. There was no nameplate on one door, and on the other was the name Pierce Kingman. "Right through there, please," Stephanie continued. She smiled as Lorelai passed her. "Good luck," she murmured before turning and moving back down the hallway.

"Ms. Lorelai Collins?" a man asked. He adjusted the small wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose and looked at her through watery gray eyes. His skin was pasty, as if he'd spent his entire life indoors, and he was preternaturally thin, almost emaciated.

Lorelai nodded, and held out her hand. He introduced himself and gestured for her to sit. "You have your resume? I saw there wasn't one with your application, but I thought I'd ask."

She nodded. "I do," she said, and handed over the paper. It wasn't an impressive resume, she knew. All she'd had were a few babysitting jobs and a short-lived stint at a coffeehouse, where she'd drunk more than she'd served. But that had been before her parents' deaths, New York and Jess. But everyone needed to start somewhere, she reminded herself.

It didn't take Mr. Kingman long to look over the resume, and he set it aside in short order. "So, Ms. Collins. Please tell me how you heard about this job availability?"

"I'm newly arrived in town," she began. "And Luke Danes at the diner recommended I talk with Miss Patty for information. She mentioned the Inn was under new management and that some people were leaving. She thought there might be a job for me somewhere here."

"I see," Mr. Kingman said, his tone so steady it made her want to squirm. She had no idea whether the response was good or bad. "What kind of position were you looking for?" he asked her, yet again pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Quite honestly I'm looking for steady employment. I'm a fast learner and can do anything I put my mind to. I was told there were maid positions open. I would be happy to be a maid in a beautiful establishment like this."

Mr. Kingman repeated his noncommittal response. "Well, I can see you've gotten your GED. Mind if I ask why?"

Lorelai bit her lip, not really expecting that question. "I couldn't attend public school any longer for personal reasons, and private school was out of the question. Getting my GED took a lot less time, and it seemed a better idea than simply dropping out."

Lorelai fervently wished for a response other than, "I see," but she didn't want to alienate him. There were a few more questions, most of which she'd expected and rehearsed for. She was fairly confident that it had gone well by the time she left the interview, and walked home optimistic about her chances for employment.

She entered the diner again, going to what was fast becoming her usual stool and grinning at Luke. Without her ordering, he poured her a mug and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "I think it went well," she told him. "I'm not going to jinx it beyond that, but I do think I did a decent job."

"Good," Luke said. "Glad to hear it. So…what position were you hoping for?"

"Really," she said, making a face, "I'm hoping for any position. I'd be perfectly happy being a maid. It's work that you only have to concentrate on to a certain extent, and I can listen to music while I do it."

"So you think you'll get the maid position?"

She nodded. "Especially if they know or find out about the baby. I don't imagine it would look too professional to have a pregnant teenager working behind the desk."

"Well, at least you're realistic," Luke said, and went to serve another customer as she headed upstairs to get a book.

While she was upstairs, she spotted the notebook Jess had been scribbling in recently. He must have finished it, she thought, and went to pick it up. Sure enough, there were several pages stapled to the back cover. She flipped it open, and began reading.

As always, his writing hit her hard. It was so evocative, the story lines—even in the first chapter—were engrossing, and the humans in it were as real and flawed as any she'd ever met. They were better than some things she'd read published, and she didn't feel she was just being biased. He deserved to be a published author.

But he was frightened. Scared of rejection. Scared of becoming just another wanna-be who was turned down time after time. She knew that wouldn't happen to him: all his stories needed was a bit of basic editing, maybe a little tweak of the plots, but the core of the good stories was there. Any half-witted editor could see it, if he'd just send it in.

She'd push him, gently, when the time was right, she told herself, putting the notebook back as she'd found it. He always let her read the stories when she asked, valued her critique, even. But if he'd found out she'd just picked it up without him knowing about it, he'd get angry. So, she'd ask him tonight.

  


~*~

  


The next few days she got little accomplished. She'd called and made an appointment with an obstetrician in Hartford for the next Saturday when Jess could go with her, and almost hoped she'd have to cancel it because of her work schedule. She puttered around the town and the diner with Jess her first weekend in Stars Hollow. 

She could hear the people talking about her, but they did it with sympathy, and in some cases, even, admiration. Lorelai had overheard one woman who talked to Luke a lot say she'd admired Lorelai for being so grown-up about it. Lorelai had smiled at the confirmation that she'd done the right thing.

Then, five days after the interview, she got a phone call. "It's for you," Luke told her.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Collins?" said a familiar voice.

"Yes," she said, heart pounding.

"This is Mr. Kingman. I'm calling to offer you a position on the cleaning and maintenance staff at the Independence Inn."

She almost felt as if she would cry from relief. "I'd be honored to accept the position," she told him. "When would you like me to start?"

"We'd like to schedule you on the first shift, which begins at check-out time, which is eleven in the morning. We like to have our employees here about fifteen minutes early to prepare. The shift is over at four."

"Sounds good," she told him. "What days?" 

"Is Monday through Friday good for you?"

"That sounds great," she said.

"Can you start tomorrow?" he asked.

She began grinning madly. "Of course."

"Great. We'd like you to come in and fill out some forms for us. That might take a while."

"How about I come in at around nine? That'll give me plenty of time to fill out the forms and to prepare myself."

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then, Ms. Collins," Mr. Kingman said.

"Thank you so much," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good bye."

She parroted the line back to him, and hung up the phone. "I got the job!" she said, nearly shouting in happiness. "Luke!" she called, in case he hadn't heard her across the diner where he was refilling a coffee mug. "I got the job at the Inn!" 

He smiled. "Congratulations," he told her. "What can I get you to celebrate?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

Luke rolled his eyes and sighed, but poured her a cup of decaf without any other protest. She drank happily, thinking about what she might need to bring with her tomorrow for the forms. And she honestly had no idea. She didn't really have any forms with her.

She sobered as she thought about all she'd have to do very soon. She'd have to keep track of the grocery costs, not to mention the utility bills and rent when she got an apartment…if she got an apartment, she reminded herself. There still hadn't been any word on that. She'd have to file income taxes, now, she thought, and bit her lip. There was so much to being an adult.

She hoped she was up to the task.


	13. Chapter 13

**_

Chapter 13

_**

She awoke the next day as Jess was getting ready for school.

"Hey," he said, seeing her eyes open and watching him. He bent down and gave her a sweet good-morning kiss, then studied her as she stretched and sat up. "Nervous?"

She nodded fervently, and he chuckled. "Well, don't be," he told her. "You're going to do marvelously. And you're going to have fun and be happy." He kissed her again, and she was awake enough to participate in this one. After several long moments he pulled away. "I've gotta get to school," he told her, sounding infinitely reluctant. "I'm cutting it close as it is. When will you be home?"

"I get off at four, so pretty soon after that," she told him.

"I'll be in the diner when you come home, okay?" he asked, putting on his coat and heading out the door.

"Sounds good," she murmured. As soon as she was alone in the apartment, her stomach began churning with nerves. She felt the curve of her belly, and remembered that she had a new life to take care of and provide for. Amazingly, the thought helped to calm her, and she got up to prepare for her first day of work.

She dressed in jeans, a shirt and a loose sweater, knowing there would be a uniform provided for the work. Then she went downstairs for her breakfast and her morning cup of coffee.

"Morning," she said to Luke, smiling when he picked up a mug before even muttering a greeting in return. 

"What'll it be this morning?" he asked.

"Warm cereal with fruit toppings, more coffee, and toast."

Luke propped his hands on the counter and said, "You nervous about your first day of work?" He looked sympathetic when she nodded. "Just don't hit your head and get knocked unconscious," he told her.

She blinked slightly at him, nonplussed. "Why would I do that?"

"That's what I did when the diner opened," he said, looking sorry he'd brought it up. "I opened the doors, went into the back room, threw up and passed out. I hit my head."

"Ouch," Lorelai said, wanting to smile. "But…you eventually got over that feeling, right?"

He shrugged. "Well, I'm still kinda nervous that someone'll get sick or something, but that kinda goes with owning a food establishment."

She took a big gulp of coffee. "Hmm," she said contentedly. "The only way someone would get sick on your food is overeating," she told him.

"Thanks," he said wanly. "It'll be about ten minutes."

"No hurry. I'll just sit here drinking my coffee."

He went off to serve other customers, leaving Lorelai sitting at the counter. She concentrated on not thinking about the test of adulthood facing her, instead listening to the conversations around her.

"That's her," someone—a female—whispered. "That's the girl Luke's nephew knocked up."

Another female voice scolded the first, and Lorelai recognized Miss Patty's dulcet tones. "Now, Babs, that's not fair. The kids made a mistake. The girl is getting a job to support herself and the baby. And Jess isn't quitting school. In fact, I heard he's taking on even more classes than he was before."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"I was talking to one of the guidance counselors over at the High School, and he was saying what a remarkable thing has happened to Jess Mariano. I mean, he's showing up to all his classes now, almost without fail."

"Wow." There was a pause. "I will miss seeing him, though, sitting in the square and reading. That boy is mighty fine to look at. Why, if I didn't have Morrie…"

"You're telling me," Miss Patty said, heaving a love-struck sigh.

Lorelai was startled when Luke set the bowl of cereal and a plate of toast in front of her. "Oh, thanks," she said, jumping a little.

"Don't pay any attention to Babette and Patty," he murmured. "They're just gossips."

"It's all right," she said. "This is a small town, and I didn't really expect people to not talk. That's just unrealistic."

"Its rude, is what it is," Luke said.

"It's all right," Lorelai repeated. "Really. Let them talk." She waved a hand and took a bite of creamy oatmeal with honey and berries in it. "Who needs them when you can make breakfast like this?"

Far too soon, it was time for her to go and face up to her new life. The butterflies swarmed around her stomach, making her regret having that second bowl of oatmeal.

"I'm off, Luke," she called.

"Good luck," he said as she left, slipping into her coat.

The day was pleasant as she walked to the Inn, and when she arrived she stood outside the building, studying it.

It had probably been a house, at one point. A very grand old house, but still someplace where a family lived. Now it was a successful business, and it would be her workplace. All in all, she decided, there could be worse places to work.

She went into the lobby, and marched up to the front desk. "Hi!" Stephanie said, smiling widely. "I was so glad to hear that Pierce had hired you. I hope you're not disappointed you didn't get the desk job."

"No," Lorelai smiled and shook her head. "I'm happy to have any job," she said honestly.

"You can just head on back to the office where you had your interview," Stephanie said. "Pierce said you'd be coming in early to fill out some forms and get things ready for your shift."

"Thanks," Lorelai said, and followed Stephanie's gesture down a hallway.

The rest of the day blurred a little after that. She had to fill out forms, mostly having to do with the insurance coverage she had as long as she was employed, and got her uniform with a minimum amount of fuss. Then she was introduced to the other maids who were working the shift. A middle-aged but very striking woman named Katie was going to be her trainer, and she took her around to the rooms and showed Lorelai the procedure.

She was tired by the end of the day, but confident she could do the job she'd been hired to do. She shuffled home—the diner was fast becoming home to her—and slid onto her stool with a groan.

The custom was established as Luke put a cup of decaffeinated coffee in front of her. "So, how'd it go?" he asked.

"I think it went great," she told him after draining half the cup. "I've got the routine for the cleaning pretty much down, the woman who fitted me for a uniform didn't blink an eye when she found out I was pregnant." She made a face. "And people made several cryptic remarks about my name."

Luke looked as if he'd swallowed something foul. "Uh," he gulped, "like what?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. They said things like, 'Huh,' or 'That's funny.' They couldn't say any more, because something always interrupted them–customers, a crisis in the kitchen, plain 'ol work–but I think they just have to get used to having a siren in their midst."

Luke forced a chuckle out of a throat that had closed up. This was too much stress: he didn't want to deal with it. Waitings for the Lorelais to discover each other was elevating his blood pressure to far beyond healthy. Something was going to break soon, though, he was sure of it. They were working in the same building, with the same people. Gilmore was Collins' boss, for crying out loud! How much longer could it be kept a secret?

"Jess is waiting for you upstairs," he told her.

"Oh, okay," she said, and finished her coffee. "Thanks, Luke."

She opened the door into their apartment to find Jess lying on the bed with his textbooks spread around him. "Hey," she said, removing her sweater gratefully. Thanks to the diner and kitchen below, the apartment was usually kept very warm in the winter.

"Hey," he said. "I've got a surprise for the working woman," he told her.

"Really?" She smiled as she sat next to him. "I love surprises."

He picked up a tape case from under his history text and passed it to her. "We're going to watch a nice movie and relax." The entertainment center was the middle row of shelves facing Jess' bed, and she was smiling as she moved to turn on the TV and put the tape in the VCR. "'Riding in Cars With Boys,'" she read as she moved to sit back down, raising her eyebrow at him.

"I thought it apropos," he said, clearing off the textbooks and looking up in time to see her wince. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"Nothing," she said, though truthfully her back was beginning to twinge at her.

"No, that wince wasn't nothing," he said argumentatively as the previews came on.

She sighed heavily, but decided he would argue it out of her eventually, so it was better to give in now. "If you must know, my back hurts. Just a little bit."

Now he looked concerned. "Where?" he asked as he began to move his hands over her back. This was easy as they were lying across the bed, him behind her.

"Jess," she sighed. "It's not that bad…." She trailed off when his fingers found the tensed muscles in the middle of her back and gently began to kneed them. She raised her knee to prop herself up as she rocked forward, until she was lying as much as was safe on her stomach. This gave Jess a much better angle to work with, and soon she was so relaxed she was nearly asleep.

"Movie's starting," he murmured in her ear, settling back, confident he'd done the right thing. She made a noncommittal noise, making him chuckle. "Come on," he said. "I made a special trip to the movie place just for you."

"Then you shouldn't have put me to sleep beforehand, should you?" she asked the comforter covering his bed. He chuckled again as she levered herself up, until she was nestled against him.

They watched the movie without their usual quips, enjoying each other's company and the down time. The only comment either of them made was halfway through the movie. Lorelai said, "The ads made it seem a lot happier." She felt Jess nodding against her back, and didn't comment further.

Jess grew more nervous as he watched the movie. It was all about the disappointments of having a baby at an early age, instead of the happier movie the commercials had shown. He wasn't sure it was a good idea for them to be watching this. It didn't exactly cast a hopeful glow on their futures.

The movie ran out, and Jess used the remotes to turn off the VCR and the TV. They lay in silence for several minutes, Jess waiting tensely for her to say something. Finally, he couldn't take it any more. "Lor?" he said. "Um…please say something?"

As a response, Lorelai turned at looked at him, inches away from her face, her belly protruding enough that they touched. Her hands cupped his face. "I'm lucky," she murmured, and kissed him, gently. When she pulled away, her eyes were wet. "I'm so very lucky," she said. "I could be like her. She didn't love him. She never loved anyone but the kid. And the guy wasn't dependable. He wasn't like you. I love you, Jess," she said, quietly. "I really do. I'm so lucky."

Jess' arms pulled her closer, and he kissed her back, feeling happier than ever before. After a while, she pulled back again. "I'm so lucky to have found you," she told him. 

"Technically," he said. "I found you."

She smiled at him. "I just can't believe how lucky I am. I can't believe you've forgiven me for not telling you about the baby sooner. Thank you."

They kissed once more, and Jess rolled until she was sprawled over him. 

Soon, the kisses led to more, and they made love for the first time since she'd gotten pregnant. "Oh, jeez," Jess said at one point. "Should we be doing this?"

Lorelai nodded, breathing hard. "It's all right until the third trimester," she told him.

"You're sure?" he asked her intently. She nodded, and he began to kiss her again.

She had been reluctant to take off her clothes. Jess had laughed gently. "This'll be very interesting with all that cloth in the way," he said, making her blush.

"Jess…" she said, and bit her lip. He kissed her until she let go. "Jess, I'm pregnant," she told him.

He laughed outright at that. "I know," he told her. "It's not something I could forget."

"No, I'm pregnant; I'm getting fat," she told him. "I've got stretch marks on my stomach where the skin has stretched too fast."

His only response to that was to lift the hem of her shirt and begin to caress and kiss her skin. "You're as beautiful as the first time I saw you," he told her against her skin. "You're as beautiful as the first time we made love. You're just beautiful, Lorelai," he told her, and finally she believed him.

After they finished, Jess pulled her tightly against him. "I'm most definitely moving into the apartment with you."

She began laughing, almost uncontrollably. When she'd laughed herself out, she said, "If I even can get an apartment. I haven't gotten a call back yet."

"I have confidence in you," Jess told her, running his hand over her hair. "But Luke's going to be wondering why I'm not down for the dinner rush," he added, glancing at his alarm clock, stationed next to the couch. 

They parted reluctantly and dressed. The rest of their night was spent in the diner, Lorelai smiling and talking with Jess and Luke when they weren't busy, and reading when they were. It was comforting, she thought, to have something resembling a routine set out already.

It was late that night—technically morning—when she awoke, and for a moment wondered what had disturbed her sleep. Then she heard Jess' rapid breathing from the couch, and she sat up, looking for him. She swept the covers aside and went to kneel next to the couch by his head. He was fast asleep, but his dreams weren't happy. He was frowning deeply, and fidgeting on the narrow couch.

"Jess?" she whispered, trying not to wake Luke who was a few yards away. Jess made a small, distressed noise at the back of his throat. "Jess," she said, with more confidence. "Wake up," she added.

His eyelids flickered slightly, and she bent closer. "Jess!" she hissed, and had to stifle a scream when he quickly came awake and sat up. She was trying to catch her breath while he raked his hands through his hair and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Lorelai?" he asked when he saw her. "What's wrong?"

"That's my line," she whispered, gesturing for him to keep it down. She tried to stand, overbalanced and was saved from falling when he caught her arm. "Thanks," she murmured as he pulled her up to sit next to him on the couch. "So what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Just a bad dream." But he pulled her closer to him, his hands linking together tightly across her stomach. He head turned until his forehead was resting against the crown of her head.

They stayed in silence that way for a few minutes, and for a moment Lorelai thought he'd gone back to sleep. She shifted slightly, until she could look into his face. "Jess, tell me," she requested gently. He shook his head. "Please, Jess? I want to know what the bad dream was. It helps to banish the memories," she said when he didn't speak.

He heaved a sigh. "All right. I was dreaming about you and the baby."

"And that was bad?"

"Yeah, it was bad," he said harshly, then glanced towards Luke's bed. "Yes, it was." He swallowed hard. "It was _just_ you and the baby," he told her, his voice scratchy. "You were alone, and I'd let you down and turned into my father."

She brought her hand up to touch his cheek. "Jess, no," she murmured. "You're nothing like your father, and you could never let me down."

"What if I can't do it?" he asked her. "What if I just can't hack it, being a dad? A father, even. What if I'm a horrible father?" She leaned forward and kissed him gently.

When she pulled away, her voice was firm. "Don't say such ridiculous things."

"Oh, that's good," he said, though there was a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm having a crisis of conscience and you tell me I'm ridiculous."

"You're not ridiculous. You're saying things that are, but you're not."

"I'm just saying what I feel," he protested.

"Shush," she scolded him. "I'm talking."

"Yes, ma'am," he said. 

"Look, Jess," she said. "I had the exact same thoughts you had. I found out I was pregnant, and for a long time I wondered what kind of mother I would be. I wondered if I was doing the right thing by keeping the baby, even though I knew how being adopted could affect you. And I thought, 'Well, I don't have such great examples of parenting myself, do I? My birth mother was sixteen, my birth father probably doesn't even care that I exist.'"

"But you had your parents," Jess protested.

"Yeah. Who lied to me for my entire life, and probably would have continued to lie to me." Jess looked at her, never having heard these sentiments from her regarding her parents. "That's not a good way to raise a kid," she said. "Trust me. It makes you question your entire life, thinking, 'Well, if they lied about that, what else were they lying about?' Then you go through everything that you can remember about your life and wonder if it was all an act."

She shook herself out of that melancholy. "But that's not the point." She turned to face Jess completely. "The one thing I never questioned was what kind of father you would be," she told him. "I wondered if you might not be happy being a father at such a young age, and I wondered if you would ever forgive me." She put one hand on top of her stomach, and grabbed Jess' hand with the other to place it over hers. "But I knew that no matter how you felt about me, you'd never hold it against this baby. You're just not that kind of person, Jess." She felt the tears welling up. "You're a loving person. Sure, you can be a little gruff sometimes, but…I knew you'd love this baby."

"How could I not?" he demanded. "This baby is part of you, in the most literal sense." The tears were streaming down her cheeks now, and he wiped them away. "Come on, Lor, stop crying. You're scaring me."

"No, these are good tears," she told him, laughing. "Really. I'm just happy that I'm so lucky. That you're the father of this baby. That I'm even having a baby. I love you, Jess, I really do."

Jess pulled her to him for a sweet kiss, keeping his hand over her belly. "I love you, too, Lor," he murmured as he pulled away. "Now, go back to sleep," he added. "You've got work tomorrow…well, today," he added, glancing at the clock.

"And you've got school, so you sleep, too," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," he repeated, then yawned.

"All this saccharine sap is kind of tiring, isn't it?" she asked him, and laughed, then yawned again.

"It's so sticky you get tired of fighting it," Jess said. "Now go back to your bed."

"It's your bed," she told him. "I'm just borrowing it."

"I know." He watched her progress across the small space and only laid down when she was safely under the covers.

"We're both going to be okay, Jess," she whispered, already mostly asleep. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Lorelai," he murmured.

Across the room, Luke closed his eyes, and tried to get back to sleep, feeling much better about life in general.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** *squeals in absolute bliss* You guys ROCK!! I can't belive it broke the triple digits in the reviews! I love you guys! Thank you so so so so so much!  


~*~

  
**_

Chapter 14

_**

Lorelai was taking her lunch break, sitting away from the rush in the kitchen of the Inn. The cook was a large, sweet, round-faced woman who had practically shoved food at her when she came in. So she sat in a chair, happily munching on a leftover pasta dish with shrimp and garlic. Even the baby seemed content to just absorb the nutrients, rather than practice karate inside her. The baby had been unusually active for the past few days, and Lorelai was glad for the break.

The door to the kitchen opened and a woman Lorelai had often seen at the diner came in. She was carrying a clipboard and looked very efficient. "Good afternoon, Sookie," she said to the cook. "How're things coming for that banquet we've got tonight?"

"Hello, Ms. Gilmore," she said, then gasped and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry! I meant—"

"The person who ran this place before me was a stickler for protocol, wasn't he?" the other woman asked. "It's all right, really. Just tell me how the food's doing. I've got a flower delivery that's supposed to be here in five minutes. I swear, if they're late one more time…."

Sookie launched into detail about the menu and the preparations for the banquet. Lorelai had been helping to clean and prepare their event hall for the big shindig, so she listened curiously to find out what the big deal was. Not that she understood a single thing that Sookie said. Oh, sure, she got the general terms like, "lettuce," "soup" and "appetizer," but beyond that she was lost. It all sounded delicious, though.

"Well, that sounds great, Sookie," the woman said, and patted the woman on the shoulder. "You'll let me know if there's any trouble, right?" When the redhead nodded emphatically, the woman smiled. "Well, I'll check in again before the banquet starts if I don't hear from you. Bye."

"Bye, Ms. Gilmore. Oops! Sorry! Bye Lorelai!"

"Thanks, Sookie," the woman said, smiling as she left the kitchen. 

The noodles Lorelai had been about to swallow immediately came back up as she began to cough. One of them went halfway up her nose. An assistant cook came over and handed her a glass of water and asked her if she was okay. She nodded and managed to croak, "Just went down the wrong pipe." She drank the water until she felt she could breathe again.

As she finished her plate of food, she didn't notice that she didn't taste the garlic and shrimp, or that her hand was shaking as she brought the food mechanically to her mouth. She didn't notice anything. Her work for the rest of the day didn't suffer, but she barely recognized she was doing it.

She hadn't heard what she thought she had. That was all there was to it. It would be far too big a coincidence if her birth mother were in Stars Hollow at the same time she was. That was just too horrific to contemplate.

"Lorelai!" Jess said. She entered the diner looking shell-shocked. He rushed to her, and took her elbow. Only when he actually touched her did she see him. 

"Oh, Jess, hi," she said absently. Then she looked around. "Oh. When did I get here?"

"Are you all right? Is something wrong?" he demanded.

She almost began to laugh, and had to stifle the slightly hysterical urge. "No," she said, and made a little coughing noise. "No. Nothing's wrong. Just weird." She paused slightly then focused on him. "Did you know there's another Lorelai in town?"

Luke froze, and almost over-poured a mug of coffee. "Ooh, jeez," he said, wiping up the dollop he'd spilled. "I'm sorry." He and Jess exchanged glances, and he jerked his head upstairs. Jess nodded and began to pull her towards the curtain. She went without any hesitation, which Jess saw as a bad sign.

When they were upstairs, he sat her down on the couch. "Lorelai," he said, and waved a hand in front of her face. "Come on. You've got to snap out of it. You're freaking me out here."

She blinked several times, then batted his hand away. "Knock it off, Jess," she said irritably. "I'm in shock, okay. I'll get over it. It's not every day that I find someone who in all likelihood is my birth mother in a town of less than ten thousand people." She mulled that thought over for a moment, then gave into the laughter tickling her throat. 

When the first giggle popped out of her mouth, Jess didn't know quite what to do. Normally, he would join in on her contagious laughter. But this was almost scary. She was hysterical. "Not to mention she owns the place where I work," she added, giggling through the words. "And—" she hiccuped—"And she comes into the diner every day. Oh, God, this is too funny!"

He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him, stroking her hair and her arm as she laughed and laughed. "I'm sorry," she managed to gasp out once. "It's just …so unexpected. It's this huge coincidence…." That was all she could say before she began laughing again, her forehead on his shoulder, her whole body shaking.

At some point, she began crying, and she eventually subsided to quiet weeping, curled in his arms on the sofa.

After she'd cried herself out, she fell asleep, and Jess laid her on the couch and covered her with the blanket he'd been using. She curled into the pillow and sighed, her face red and tear-streaked from her crying jag.

Jess shook his head as he went back down to the diner. He greeted his uncle by saying grimly, "The shit has hit the fan." Luke didn't even bother to snipe at him for the profanity. He just nodded, and the two went into the storeroom to confer. "My Lorelai did not take it well," Jess told him, propping himself up against a box-laden table. "I think she's afraid Gilmore will reject her if she finds out about the baby."

Luke sighed heavily. "So…does she know you knew?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "I hate it when sentences start to sound like that. But, no, she didn't know. She remarked on what astronomical odds led to her and her birth mother both settling in a town the size of Stars Hollow and then began laughing hysterically. Then she started crying and fell asleep. It was horrible." He abruptly slammed his fist through the top of a box, cracking his knuckles on the top of a pickle jar. "I couldn't _do_ anything! I can't help with this situation: I can't make it better. In fact, I might be making it worse if she finds out I knew." He raked his hands through his hair in impotent frustration.

"This is emotional stuff, Jess," Luke said quietly, watching his nephew have a nervous breakdown. "They're both going to have to work through it their own way."

"Yeah, easy for you to say," Jess said bitterly. "You weren't up there while she was crying her heart out." He squeezed his eyes shut. "And stress can't be good for the baby."

"What's wrong?" asked a concerned voice from the doorway. Both men jumped guiltily and turned to see the elder Lorelai looking at them. "There was nobody at the counter, and I heard you guys talking," she said by way of explanation. "What's wrong?" she asked again.

"Nothing!" Luke blurted out quickly, eyes wide. He felt panic stirring and tried to suppress it.

"It's just been a long day," Jess said.

"Yeah," Lorelai said, nodding. "I've got to go back to the Inn soon. We've got this big function. But I heard that we'd hired your girlfriend," she added. "I haven't gotten around to welcoming her personally, but no complaints so far from her immediate boss. Tell her she's doing a good job."

"I will," Jess assured her. She looked at Luke and cleared her throat expectantly.

"Oh! Yeah!" Luke jumped into action, and Lorelai raised her eyebrows at his odd behavior. "Can I get you something?"

"Do you even really need to ask any more?"

"Coffee it is," he said.

There was an expectant pause while she sat on the other side of the counter. "No arguments?" she asked as he began to pour her a mug. "No comments about how caffeine is addictive and bad and will eventually kill me?"

Luke shrugged, dismally failing to look casual. "I figure you've heard it before."

"Okay, seriously," Lorelai said. "If there's something wrong, maybe I could help. You know, give you a woman's perspective."

Jess and Luke exchanged glances. "No, really," Luke said. "I think we'll be okay. She's just having a tough day."

"Was work bad?" she asked. "I know it was a stressful day, but we don't have events like this all the time, thank God. Not every day is going to be this hectic."

"I'll pass that along," Jess said, and went to help other customers, leaving his uncle alone with the older Lorelai. He hoped his uncle could handle it.

"So, really," she asked, lowering her voice. "How're things going with the baby and all?"

"Fine, actually," Luke said. "They've got a doctor's appointment Saturday. The baby's due sometime in May."

"Well, I know how the job search went," she said. "But what about the apartment hunting?"

Luke shook his head, relieved they were sticking to innocuous topics. "No word on that yet. She filled out some applications, but no one's called."

She hummed as she took a large drink of her coffee. "I'm pretty sure one of the units in my building is open," she said. "What price range is she looking at?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. I know she filled out an application for one of them on your street, I just don't know for sure which one. She filled out one for a two-bedroom one bath, kitchen/living room."

She shrugged, and a moment later her cell phone rang. Luke scowled and pointed at the prominent sign behind the counter. She studied the caller ID. "The Inn. I guess I'll be leaving."

"See you for breakfast?" he asked, and she nodded and left, phone at her ear. He was so intent on watching her he didn't notice that Jess was once again at his side.

"Oh, no," Jess said, keeping his voice as low as he could. "Do not make this situation any more complicated than it already is." Luke turned and scowled at his nephew.

"What are you babbling about?" he muttered as he shoved past Jess.

"Luke," Jess said warningly. "It's way too twisted if you were going to fall for my girlfriend's mother." Thankfully, he kept his voice low, and the noise level at the diner was enough that no one overheard it.

"Look," Luke said, and stalked back to the back room. Jess followed. "She's pretty, smart, and a nice person. She's crazy, but I can deal with that. But I can keep myself under control." He began to stalk back out. "Oh," he added, spinning back around. "For the record, I'm her friend. That's all. That's all she feels about me, too."

He didn't wait for Jess' response before he left the back room. When Jess was certain his uncle was gone, he let out a loud groan. "Oh, jeez," he muttered to himself, knowing that the situation would get more confusing before it sorted itself out. Stupid Lorelais, he thought grimly. There was just something the Danes men couldn't resist about them, apparently. Because Luke was already on his way towards caring about his girlfriend's mother, who was also his baby's–Luke's grand niece or -nephew's–grandmother. 

"I jinxed myself with that whole, 'small towns are soap operas beneath the surface,' thing I told Lorelai." Maybe now that she knew, he could ask her about calling her Lori, or something like that, to help avoid confusion.

He emerged from the back room just in time to see his Lorelai coming down the stairs, looking very pale and very tired. She'd changed into a large sweatshirt and leggings, which were basically her sleep clothes. He was immediately at her side, and she leaned on him. "I'm okay," she murmured.

"You liar," he said. "What happened upstairs is a long way from okay."

"Fine," she said, frowning at him. "I will be okay. Now get me some coffee."

Jess realized it would be pushing his luck to continue talking about this, so he got her a mug of coffee and went about his work. After several minutes, she seemed to have calmed down, and he deemed it safe to approach her again. "So, I've been thinking," she said.

Jess felt faint stirrings of unease, but ignored them. "About?"

"You didn't seem surprised," she told him, her voice holding almost no inflection. She held up a hand when he opened his mouth. "Don't worry. I know now why you asked if I wanted to find my birth mother." She laughed without humor. "Must've freaked you out big time when I told you I didn't."

"So…you're not mad I didn't tell you?" he asked.

"I kept this a secret from you," she said, gesturing at her stomach. "And for a lot longer. But I can imagine how hard it must have been. Looking back, I can see your nervousness whenever she and I were in the diner together."

Jess shook his head in relief. "I kept wondering how you'd find out."

"Oh, jeez," she said, slapping herself on the forehead. "And the Inn! That must've given you a heart attack when I told you I'd applied for a job there."

"You're not going to start laughing again, are you?" Jess asked, concerned.

"I'm not really going to do anything right now," she told him honestly. "I feel drained. I'm definitely going to bed early tonight."

"Okay," he said agreeably. "What do you want for dinner?"

"I'd like a BLT, actually," she said. "Fries, milkshake."

"Coming right up," Jess said, and squeezed her hand before going back to call in the order.

She sighed and laid her head on her forearms on the counter. She'd told the truth: she felt completely drained of everything. Energy, thoughts, feelings had all fled while she was asleep on the couch. Everything happening to her was overwhelming. Abruptly, her eyes focused on Jess as he worked. Without her being aware of it, a small smile formed on her lips.

He was absolutely perfect, she thought idly. She again told herself how lucky she was. _You'd better tell yourself that every day for the rest of your life,_ she thought vehemently. _No matter how tough things get, you're one of the luckiest teen mothers in recorded history. Never, ever forget that._

"Hey, Lorelai," Luke said, and she slowly raised her head to look at him, tearing her eyes from her boyfriend. "You should go upstairs. Jess can bring the food up to you."

"Why don't you call me Lori," she said, the small smile still in place. "I know about the other Lorelai now, so things could get really confusing. So just call me Lori." She tested it out a few times in her head, and nodded in satisfaction. "And thanks," she added. "But I think I'll stay down here. It's comfortable."

"Could you at least sit in a chair?" he asked her.

"Luke, do you believe for one moment that I wouldn't change my seat if it wasn't comfortable?" she asked, feeling humor stirring.

He considered this, then acknowledged the logic. "You'd be off that stool like a shot," he agreed, and went to serve the other customers.

She fluctuated between being hyper aware of time, and not noticing its passing. She ate, then continued to sit and let her mind meander wherever it wanted to go.

While Luke and Jess were cleaning up after closing, she shifted on the stool, suddenly aware that her back hurt in the same place it had been the night before. She raised her head just as familiar hands began to knead the small of her back, and let her forehead fall back onto her arms. "So you guys are closing up?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"Yeah," Jess said quietly from behind her. "Time for bed."

"Hmm," she nearly purred. "In a minute." He chuckled slightly, and continued to soothe her muscles. He began to pull away, and she reached back and caught his hand, pulling him to her as she turned. "We're going to be okay, Jess," she whispered as he pressed himself against her. She kissed him lightly then hugged him, her head resting on his chest. "Maybe everything won't go perfectly," she continued. "But we will be okay."

"I know," he told her, then pulled her up into the apartment. He clicked off the lights in the diner, noting his uncle had left them alone. "I love you, Lorelai," he said, and tucked her into bed. He kissed her forehead. "Night."

"Nigh'," she murmured, and was asleep before he got into his own bed on the couch.


	15. Chapter 15

**_

Chapter 15

_**

In the morning, Lori awoke feeling almost cleansed, even before she took her shower. She caught herself smiling in the bathroom mirror and grimaced at herself. "You're disgustingly perky," she told her reflection, who just grinned back. "You know, you've got to make some tough decisions today," she continued to talk to herself. "You've got to decide if you want to tell your mother that she is your mother, or if you are going to continue to ignore her. And you have to tell her that she's going to be a grandmother soon." That made the smile falter a little, but it was still there.

"Ugh, there's just no hope," she said, disgusted, and went downstairs for breakfast.

"You're looking better this morning," Luke greeted her.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she told him, sliding onto her stool. "I'll have the French toast with your delicious strawberry syrup, coffee, hash browns and toast."

Luke sighed heavily, but wrote down her order. She had just opened her book when she saw someone sit onto the next stool, facing her. An older man, probably in his sixties, with a beard sat there. "Excuse me, Miss," he said respectfully. "Are you Lorelai Collins?" She nodded. "I'm Taylor Doose," the man said. She smiled and turned to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Doose. Please, call me Lori." That was the first time she'd said that, and it sounded nice.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too," he said. "Now, I heard that you've filled out an application for one of the apartments in a building I own." She nearly laughed, but managed to stifle it in time.

"I actually filled out a couple of applications," she said, "just to cover my bases. Which is your building?"

"The furnished apartment was mine," he said.

"I was hoping I'd get that one," she said, smiling winsomely at him. "It's perfect for me."

He looked flattered and straightened on his stool. She thought for a moment he was going to preen his mustache. "Well," he said. "Then it's my pleasure to inform you that I've accepted your application."

She gasped, feeling elated. "Really?" she asked, then stopped. "But, there's something–"

"Oh," he said, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Patty already told me about your …special circumstances. It happens every day, young lady, and you're handling a difficult situation with maturity. Both you and that young man. Patty told me you're working at the Inn, and you've expressly forbidden him from dropping out of high school. A very good move on both counts."

She blushed, and coughed. "Does, um, everyone in town know about my…special circumstances?" she asked, glancing around the diner.

"This is a small town," he said. "And I'm not one to gossip, but some people are prone to do so." He looked superior, puffed up like a bantam rooster. "And I'm not one to turn away information. Don't you worry," he added, and patted her hand resting on the countertop. "This town takes care of its own."

"Lori," Luke said pointedly. "Is this guy bothering you?"

"No, Luke," she said, still smiling and blushing. "In fact, Mr. Doose has just informed me that I've been accepted for an apartment. The furnished one I was hoping to get." She turned back to Taylor as Luke set down plates in front of her and refilled her coffee. "Thank you again, so much, Mr. Doose," she said. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, and you'll never regret it."

She noticed he was frowning, and he said, "I hope that's decaffeinated, young lady. Caffeine is very bad for fetuses."

"You really think I would let her drink anything but decaf, Taylor?" Luke demanded, affronted.

"Luke and Jess have both been making sure I eat right," she informed the older man. "They've been taking very good care of me."

"Glad to hear it," Taylor said, then glanced down at his watch. "Well, I really must get back to the store. How about I talk to you tonight, Ms. Collins, and we can get the paperwork started?"

"That would be wonderful," she said, smiling at him as he left.

"I thought Jess warned you about applying for one of that nut's apartments," Luke said as she dug into her meal. She had just enough time to eat her breakfast and get to work.

"He did," she said. "I didn't know that was one of his. But I like that apartment, Luke."

"You sure? 'Cause he really is a nut. He measures his lawn three times before he cuts it to make sure it's the right length."

She laughed slightly. "At least it'll be entertaining," she said.

He sighed heavily and went back to work.

She was nervous as she approached the Inn that morning, but she didn't see the other Lorelai all day.

Jess was waiting with a mug of freshly brewed coffee when she came into the diner that afternoon. "So how'd it go today?" he asked her after she'd drained half the cup.

She shook her head. "I didn't see her at all. I guess the owner of a business doesn't interact much with the maid staff."

"But what are you going to do when you do see each other?" he asked her. 

She made a vague noise. "I could always wing it," she said, and held her mug out for a refill. Jess made a face at her, and she shrugged. "I could. I don't think I'd do it well, but I think I don't have any other option. Jess," she said when he was going to protest. "There's too many what-ifs. Like what if she doesn't want to find me?"

"Why wouldn't she?" he asked her.

"There's lots of reasons, Jess," she said. She shook her head. "This is too much. I don't want to deal with it. Maybe it can wait until after the baby's born."

Jess sighed and hung his head for a moment. "Fine," he said as he raised it again. " What about this doctor's appointment tomorrow?"

"It's at eleven," she said. "Can we get Luke to drive us, or can we borrow the truck, or what?"

"You can borrow the truck," Luke said, moving to stand next to his nephew. "As long as you drive carefully. And you," he added, turning to Lorelai, "don't drive." She made a protesting noise, and he said, "If you're in an accident the seatbelt's going to be a danger enough without the steering wheel."

At the mere thought of it she put her hands protectively over her stomach.

"And we should be home around two," she said. "They've got to have enough time to run tests and stuff. And don't let me forget about the insurance information," she told Jess. He nodded, and she made a few more arrangements before heading up to the apartment for some downtime.

  


~*~

  


They came home with new sonogram photos and no word yet on what sex the baby was. "I just don't know if I want to know, Jess," Lori said. "But that doesn't mean you can't find out. They know by now."

"It's fine," he assured her. "I wouldn't be able to keep that a secret from you anyway. We'll either find out when you're ready, or when the baby comes."

"You're sure?" she asked, and sighed with relief when he nodded.

"And you got those vitamins the doctor told you to take?" he asked, and in response she held up the bottle and rattled it. "Good."

They spent the rest of the weekend relaxing from their week and doing the homework assigned to Jess.

Monday morning, Lori confessed to Luke that she was nervous. "I just don't see how much longer I can work there if we don't confront this thing. If _I_ don't confront this thing…because she doesn't know…does she?"

"I didn't tell her," Luke said defensively.

Lori dug into her food. "What if she doesn't want to find me?"

"Why wouldn't she?"

She shrugged. "There's lots of reasons. She could be ashamed, angry, anything."

Luke felt torn, but had vowed not to get more involved than he already was. "I don't think she would object to finding you," was all he said. Then he moved to wait on some customers that had just come in.

Lori worked through the morning, and was enjoying her lunch break in the kitchen when, again, Lorelai came in. Her mother Lorelai. She froze, and almost choked on the bite of fish Sookie had shoved at her when she found out she wasn't allergic.

She felt herself beginning to hyperventilate when Lorelai began making her way through the crowded and busy kitchen towards her.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "I hear you're our newest employee. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you last week, but it was so busy." She stuck her hand out, and Lori shook it, biting her lip. "Anyway, I'm Lorelai Gilmore. I just bought the Inn, and I'm really glad you could come work for me." She waited a long moment before saying, "You're Jess' girlfriend, right?"

Finally, she could speak again, and nodded as she said, "Um, yeah. My name is Lore—Lori."

"Nice to finally meet you, Lori," Lorelai said. "I've heard a lot about you from Luke, but he never really mentioned your name." She thought about that for a moment. "Oh, well. I guess he was still mad about the surprise. But I heard you're doing great with that. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you," Lori replied, and blushed.

"Okay," Lorelai said. "So, I guess I'll let you get back to work. I just like to meet all my employees."

"Nice to meet you," Lori said, slightly numb as she watched her mother walk away. _Brilliant handling of the situation,_ she chastised herself, and thought about what she could have said for the rest of the working day, and was still angry at herself when she entered the diner that afternoon.

"Coffee, please," she nearly growled at Luke as she plunked herself onto the stool.

"What's wrong?" Luke demanded.

"I'm mad at myself," she said. "She comes over and talks to me to say, and the longest sentence I manage to get out is four words. Four words! That's all I can say!" She took a drink of her coffee and managed to scald herself. As she muttered a four letter word, Jess comes up behind her. 

He kissed the top of her head, and murmured, "Bad day?"

"I just feel stupid," she said, and to her horror she was pouting. Jess sat on the stool next to her to listen to her describe the conversation with Lorelai. "I'm going to talk to her tonight," she said determinedly. 

Jess and Luke both froze and turned to stare at her. "What?" Jess finally managed to say. 

"I'm going to talk to her tonight when she comes in for dinner. You said she always comes here for dinner because she can't cook." Lori took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, I'm going to go over and sit with her. See if I can't approach the subject gradually."

"How do you propose to approach this kind of subject gradually?" Jess demanded.

"I don't know! Why are you jumping on me?"

"Lori," he said, wincing. "You're stressed enough as it is without adding to it."

"Oh, so it's better for me to just wait around for her to notice the resemblance? No, I want to get it out of the way and out in the open. If I have to leave the Independence Inn, I need to start looking for a job someplace else."

"Wait a minute," Luke said, butting in. "No matter how upset Lorelai is, she isn't going to fire you."

"Maybe not," Lori said. "But I might quit. If she doesn't want to know about me, how am I going to work there? It would be just horrible. I would have to quit, rather than risk seeing her."

Luke bit his lip and refrained from confessing about his conversation with Lorelai. He decided to wait for the explosion that could be coming, and prepare for it as best he could.


	16. Chapter 16

**_

Chapter 16

_**

For a few hours, Lori hung around the diner, talking to Jess when he had nothing to do, and trying to keep her mind off the confrontation that was coming.

Around seven, Lorelai came into the diner and sat at a vacant table near the window. Lori's breath began to come quickly, and she felt the need to put her head down. "Oh, god, am I really going to do this?" she demanded.

Jess reached for her hand and gripped it. Then he leaned over the counter and kissed her on the cheek, and gestured for her to sit at the table after he'd taken Lorelai's order.

She steeled herself, and forced herself to act remotely cheerful. "Hello," she said, approaching the table where Lorelai sat, looking out the window. The older woman was a bit startled, but smiled when she saw who it was. 

"Oh, hello," she said.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Lori asked.

"Not at all." Lorelai looked intrigued as Lori pulled out the chair and sank into it. Lori folded her hands together to keep them from shaking.

"I just wanted to say thank you for seeking me out today," Lori began. "I know I didn't say much, but it really meant a lot to me. I was just…nervous."

"Of me?" Lorelai laughed. "Why?"

"Well, you're the boss and all…." Lori trailed off, not wanting to elaborate on the "all" just yet "I was just afraid of saying something I'd regret."

"That's all right," Lorelai said. She looked down at her coffee cup in surprise. "Oh, darn, I'm out."

"Jess?" Lori called. "Two coffees, please?" 

"Thanks," Lorelai said. 

There was silence until after Jess had refilled their coffee mugs. When he was gone, she asked, "Do you have kids?"

Lorelai nearly dropped her coffee cup. "N-No, not really, why?"

Lori bit her lip, groping for a plausible reason to have blurted out such a question. "I've just have some questions, and I wanted to ask a woman who's been through the whole birth process. But I don't know any. That's why I was wondering if you'd had kids, and if you did, what you went through."

"What about your parents?"

"They're deceased," Lori said softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lorelai said, and reached out to cover Lori's hand in a gesture of comfort. Lori felt as if she wanted to cry, but held herself back.

"It's all right," she said. "It happened years ago."

"How many years ago?"

"Three."

Lorelai scoffed. "That's barely anything!" she said. "You must still be upset about it."

"I guess I am," she said. "I loved my parents. Even if they were alive now, I wouldn't be able to ask my mom about pregnancy."

"Not a big heart-to-heart person, huh?" Lorelai asked sardonically. "My mom isn't either. I still can't talk to her about anything of importance. In fact, I don't think I've talked to her in the last year at all. We exchanged cards at Christmas, but other than that, there's really been nothing."

"Well, no, it's not that," Lori said. She took in a huge breath, held it for a few moments, and then sighed heavily. "It's that she'd never given birth." Her heart beat faster, almost drowning out any other noise in her ears.

Lorelai had frozen, her eyes fastened on Lori's face and eyes. "Really?" she managed to croak out. "How did she manage that?"

"I was put up for adoption when I was a baby," Lori said quietly. Their eyes were locked, and she wouldn't be the first to look away. "My birth mother was very young, only sixteen, when she had me."

Lorelai's eyebrows drew downward. "What's your birthday?" she demanded, still not looking away, her eyes filling with tears that didn't fall.

"October eighth, nineteen eighty-four," Lori said, her voice hitching.

Luke came over. "Uh, why don't you two head upstairs?" he asked. Lorelai needed no coaxing, and bolted up the staircase she'd seen Jess and Lori disappear into many times before. Lori followed slightly slower, and found Lorelai pacing in the hallway.

Lori opened the door to the apartment and led Lorelai inside. Lorelai half-collapsed against the closed door, and stared at Lori. "Where were you born?" she demanded.

"Hartford, Connecticut," Lori said. "My parents named me after my birth mother. Her name is Lorelai."

Lorelai slid to the floor. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," she chanted, her face pressed into her bent knees. Lori knelt on the floor next to her, almost afraid to touch her. "Oh, God," Lorelai finally said, looking up, face wet with tears. "You're my daughter! Are you really my daughter?"

Lori nodded, feeling the tears threatening her also, and tried to fight it. But the dam broke when Lorelai quickly grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tightly, still crying.

Neither knew how long they stayed that way, but suddenly Lorelai leaned back against the door, spent, her eyes closed. "Oh, God," she said again. "My daughter, Lorelai. Jeez. That must've been so confusing for Jess and Luke." Her eyes popped open as something occurred to her. "Oh, God, Jess!" she said, this time sounding horrified. "You're pregnant!"

Lori shrank back. She'd been afraid Lorelai would react like that. She nodded.

"God," Lorelai moaned. "I gave you up so I wouldn't ruin your life and you manage to ruin it all on your own!" She thumped her head back against the door.

"Hey!" Lori said. "What happened to 'Congratulations,' and 'You're doing great,' huh?"

"That was before I knew–"

"That I was your daughter? Big deal!" Lori stood and went over to collapse onto the couch. "I'm handling this situation better than you did," she spat. "I'm in love with Jess, and he loves me, and I'm going to raise this baby with him!"

"It's not my fault!" Lorelai cried, also standing. "I loved your—Christopher, but he had no interest in being a father. You know what he said when I told him? He said, 'What are you going to do?' As if it was all my fault and all my decision!"

"So where is he now?" Lori asked, slightly cowed by the thought that Jess could have reacted like that. Could have, but didn't, she reminded herself.

"I don't know," Lorelai answered. "I lost track of him a long time ago."

"You lost track of him?" Lori demanded. "How could you lose track of him? You had a child with him!"

"No," Lorelai snapped. "I had a child by myself. I just had me. And I wasn't enough. I thought I was doing the right thing by putting you up for adoption, and I still think I did because you loved your parents."

"They lied to me," Lori said quietly.

"But you still love them." Lorelai shook her head. "Don't deny it. You're still upset they died, and you still miss them and love them. I just thought I was being selfish and unrealistic to want to keep you. But I wanted to," she added. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done, handing you to the nurse when I knew I'd never see you again. But I'd been selfish my entire life. Up until then, it had only affected me. But…I couldn't let it affect you. I had to do what I thought was right."

The pair sat in silence for several long moments. Finally, Lori asked, "So tell me what happened after that."

"After I had you? After I gave you up?" Lori merely nodded. Lorelai sat next to her on the couch. "I went back to high school. Everyone knew, of course. Christopher got sent to a different school, and then he went off to college. I worked so hard to prove to everyone that I hadn't ruined my life. I was Valedictorian, with a full scholarship to Yale, even if my parents could easily pay for it. I majored in business, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else. Then, on one of the family trips to Martha's Vineyard, it hit me that I really liked hotels. The whole business fascinated me, from the way the rooms were decorated to the ordering of food for the kitchens. I wanted to know it all."

"But my parents didn't want me to. They're snobs, and they think anyone who takes care of everything they need is beneath them. So, to them, running a hotel—even one like the Georges VI in Paris—was akin to me running away from home and joining the circus. And I couldn't take it any more. By that time, I'd graduated school and was working at a job I hated but that paid very well and was very prestigious."

Lorelai took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'd been the perfect daughter to them. I'd done what they told me to do every step of the way, even to the point of marrying someone they thought was a 'good match.' That almost made up for the disgrace of getting pregnant so young." She began to choke up, the tears threatening again. "I'd done everything they told me to, and when I found something that made me happy they told me it wasn't good enough. What made me happy wasn't good enough for them, so I wasn't good enough for them. And I wouldn't ever be, no matter how many things I did right."

She trailed off, still trying not to cry. For a long while, Lori let her fight it out. Then she asked, "So you–"

"I stopped talking to them. I had my trust fund and my husband to see me through lean times, and I had a business degree behind me. I could do whatever I wanted. And what I wanted was to run a hotel. So, I started in New York. But that was still too close to my parents, and I went to Philadelphia. I still felt suffocated, so I relocated to Chicago, still learning all I could about the hotel business. Eventually my husband got sick of moving around and wanted to stay in one place. It took us a long time to realize we weren't even friends any more, just strangers living together. So, we put in for a divorce, and I moved on. 

"And finally, I thought I was ready to take on a business of my own. I had enough money from my trust fund, and from investments I'd made, and my half of the divorce: I bought the Independence Inn."

"So, where do your parents live?"

"Well, right now they're living in Hartford, but they're making plans to have a retirement home built in Florida. Actually, they might be there by now, for all I know." Lorelai sounded as if she were counting the days. "I've told them where I am and gave them the phone number for the Inn. The ball's in their court."

Lori bit her lip before she asked, "Are you going to tell them about me?"

Lorelai laughed in horror. "Oh, there's a picture. Richard, Emily, here's the daughter you made me give up for adoption seventeen years ago, and–oh yeah!–you're about to become great-grandparents! Yeah, there's a Kodak moment for you." She chuckled for a few more moments before it hit her. "Oh, god! I'm going to be a grandmother!" She winced. "Bad mom flashback," she muttered, putting her palms to her eyes. "Forget I said that, please."

"Does that mean you're going to be involved in our lives?" Lori asked, almost afraid to hope.

"How can I not be?" Lorelai demanded. "I mean, you work for me, I eat at the diner everyday, and this is a very, very small town." Lorelai put her head back in her hands. "I hate small towns," she finally concluded. "They cause nothing but trouble. Really, would this have happened if I'd bought a hotel in New York? I don't think so!"

"Are you sorry?"

"About?"

"Finding me, us," she added, placing a hand over her stomach.

"Yes and no," Lorelai said, going for brutally honest.

Lori took a deep breath. "Let's hear the 'no' first."

"Well, no, because my life just got a lot more complicated. Think about how this is going to affect introductions: Hi, I'm Lorelai, and this is my daughter that I gave up for adoption seventeen years ago, who is also named Lorelai. How did that happen, by the way?"

Lori told her about her parents meeting Lorelai three days after she was born.

"I remember them," Lorelai said. "Those were your parents? Wow."

"Yeah. Now, what about the 'yes?'"

"Yes," Lorelai began, then sighed. "Yes, because I've regretted what I did for so long, and now…well, it's not exactly taking it back, but at least I know what you look like now."

Someone knocked on the door, making both women jump at the sound. "Yeah?" Lori called, and Jess opened the door.

"Just thought I'd check on things up here," he said, entering the apartment warily, studying both their faces with extreme caution. "Everything okay?"

"Not right now," Lori said truthfully. She turned and smiled at Lori. "But I think it will be."

Jess sighed in relief, and went over to sit on Lori's other side. "So, is it going to be a boy or a girl?" Lorelai asked them both.

"We don't know," they chorused. "I didn't find out before I came here," Lori continued. "I just don't know if I want to know."

"Well, it's not going to be a secret for very long, now, is it? You've only got four more months."

"Closer to three, now," Lori said, counting the days. "And…now that all the secrets are out, can you help me out with the pregnancy thing?"

Jess excused himself from talk about pregnancy, cravings, lack of caffeine, and swelling and pain.

"It might get really bad, it might not hurt that much," Lorelai told her. "But back pain is common. Anytime at work, just let somebody know, and you can take a break."

"Oh, god, work," Lori said, groaning, putting her face in her hands. "What are we going to tell people at work?"

"Nothing, if they don't ask," Lorelai said. "If they ask, we tell the truth. It might make their eyes glaze over, 'cause it'll take so long, but we'll tell them."

Lori thought for a moment. "Is there any way we can shorten this?"

"Hmm. I had a baby when I was sixteen, and you're it."

"That's pretty short."

"Or should I say 'it was you?'"

"I really don't think it matters."

They smiled at each other, comfortable together for the first time.


	17. Chapter 17

**_

Chapter 17

_**

Three days later, Lori's boxes arrived at the small post office Stars Hollow boasted. As soon as she got off work, Luke drove her in the truck to pick them up, letting Jess run the diner for the short time. 

After the diner was closed, Lorelai, Jess, Luke and Lori took a trip over to Lori's apartment, and helped unload the boxes. Everyone insisted that Lori not lift anything, which made her feel useless, until she realized it meant she got to dictate where to put things.

"You had to point that out to her," Jess grumbled to Lorelai, after being ordered to move one of the boxes of her books from one room to another.

"I wanted to make her feel better," Lorelai said. "And it worked."

"Yeah, and now she's turned into a dictator," Jess said.

"But a happy dictator is better than a mad dictator."

Jess sighed, and, realizing arguing must be a genetic trait, he let it drop.

"So how long a walk is it back to the diner?" Lori asked.

"Not even ten minutes," Luke said. "And I neglected cleanup after closing, so I'm headed back."

"I'll hang out here, Luke," Jess said.

"I gotta go, too," Lorelai said, and the adults left together.

Lori watched their backs as they faded into the night, curiosity getting the best of her. "Is it my imagination, or is there something there?" she asked her boyfriend, who stood with his arms wrapped around her.

"Luke says there isn't," Jess said. "But he didn't look entirely convinced himself."

"Wow," she said, and began to imagine it. "Huh. Your uncle and my birth mother. Wait, that would make us cousins-in-law. Or something."

"Cousins by marriage," he corrected.

"Isn't that what 'in-law' means?"

"I guess so," he said. "How did we get into semantics?"

She laughed lightly. "That's just the way our conversations go." She stilled as the humor left her. "Jess?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to move in here?" She wanted to bite her tongue as soon as the question was asked. She sounded small, pathetic, even. But the thought of sleeping in an unfamiliar place, all alone, with all the things that could go wrong with a pregnancy was too daunting.

He shrugged. "I might as well. I'm going to be spending the nights here, whether I technically do or not. I may as well not have to get up even earlier to make the trips."

She raised her eyebrows, and turned to face him. "You know, I'm going into my third trimester," she said, biting her lip. "That means that we can't…uh…."

"Make love?" he suggested, then leaned down and kissed her gently, but thoroughly. "I know. I read the baby books, too. And that doesn't matter. It's just that I wouldn't mind waking up in the same bed as you for the first time, sex or not."

"Well," she said. "Are you going to call Luke?"

"Nah. I told him that when you moved in I'd be staying there. I snuck some of my stuff into one of the boxes." He grinned at her mock scowl. 

"My, aren't we the confident one?" she demanded. "How'd you know I was even going to invite you to stay?"

"Because you love me," he said, and opened the flaps of the only box not taped up. 

"And it's a good thing, too," she said. "Otherwise I'd be trying to find a way to revive you after I knocked you unconscious. Now, find my alarm clock. You've gotta be up in time for school tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, and took out a pocketknife to begin cutting through the packing tape on a box labeled "bedroom accessories."

  


~*~

  


It took another month before Lori gave in and went on maternity leave. She was now showing no matter what she did, so Lorelai took her shopping for nice maternity clothes. "My treat," she said when she caught Lori grimacing at a price tag. "God knows I owe you."

"You're sure?" Lori asked, concerned.

"Very sure," Lorelai answered. "You are going to be the best-dressed pregnant woman in Stars Hollow."

Lori said nothing in response. Instead, she changed the subject. "What am I going to do for two months?" she demanded. "I can't just kick around the apartment all day."

"Why not?" Lorelai asked. "It's good for the baby for you to relax. Read books, watch TV."

"But I'll get bored with those, eventually," she said. "Even the reading thing."

"Here, try this on," Lorelai said, and shoved her daughter into the fitting rooms.

She still got a kick out of even thinking it: her daughter. So far, they hadn't addressed each other by name or endearment. They had never talked about what they would call each other, but Lorelai was sure she wasn't about to become "Mom" over night. So, they would continue to call each other "you," or "hey."

"You could always take up a hobby," Lorelai suggested.

"Like what?" Lori asked from the dressing room.

"I don't know. You could sew, knit, paint, write, sing, or…ooh! You could decorate your nursery!"

"I couldn't do everything that decorating takes," Lori protested, and opened the door. "How does this look?"

Lorelai surveyed the outfit, and gave it her okay. "Like what parts wouldn't you be able to do?" she asked, returning to the subject at hand.

"I wouldn't be able to move furniture."

"Well, that's what Jess is for."

"I could paint the room," Lori said, though she was warming to the idea of decorating her baby's nursery. "But, we don't know if it's going to be a boy or a girl."

"What's that got to do with it?"

"Hello! Color scheme, decorations."

"Pick a neutral color."

"Like?"

Lorelai thought. "A nice violet would work. Maybe with a darker purple for the trim on the windows."

"That…actually sounds nice," Lori said, and emerged from the dressing room, approved outfit in hand. "I think we've cleaned this place out," she told Lorelai, and they went to pay.

  


~*~

  


After dropping the bags at the apartment, Lorelai and Lori ate at the diner. "How'd the shopping trip go?" Jess asked, a coffeepot in each hand refilling a mug.

"It went great," Lori said, smiling. "She bought me some wonderful outfits. And she gave me some ideas about how to fill up the time now that I'm not working."

"Really?" Jess eyed Lorelai with mild suspicion. "Nothing too dangerous, I hope," he said.

"Nope," Lorelai said. "Just some sprucing things to do around the apartment."

"Huh," Jess said. "Which I'm sure you'll tell me about in great detail when I get home tonight."

"Better believe it," Lori said. "In the meantime," she added to Lorelai. "We can finish discussing the project itself."

They talked about the basic furniture for a nursery and where they could get it. Lori already had a changing table, courtesy of Tali, so they didn't have to worry about that. But there was still a crib, a small dresser, and a rocking chair to buy. "Why a rocking chair?" Lori asked when Lorelai said to add it to the list.

"Because they rock," Lorelai said. When Lori grimaced at her she said, "Sorry. It was just sitting out there; I had to go for it. Besides, they're fun chairs, and when it's done in the baby's room you can just move it to the living room." Lori shrugged and added it to the piece of paper she was scribbling on.

By late May, Lori was beginning to go crazy. She was tired all day, needed to be propped up at night so her back wouldn't hurt and she _waddled_. She felt so ungainly and clumsy that she sometimes wanted to scream. And there were still two weeks until the delivery date.

On the bright side, she'd convinced Jess—after much debate and pointed references to boredom—to let her type up his stories, and had bought a used laptop from someone in Hartford. Now she was busily typing and editing all day, visualizing with every keystroke his books in published forms. She couldn't wait until he actually convinced himself he was good enough. But she wasn't going to push him, she swore she wouldn't ever do that. It would be too controlling to push him; he had to work through his artistic neuroses all on his own.

There was a slight pain in her abdomen, but she ignored it and kept typing, diving into the gritty street crime Jess wrote with eerie clarity. It almost scared her how well he understood the darker workings of the human mind, but she reminded herself that he was a writer, and writers were supposed to see sides of humanity other than their own. 

"Ow," she suddenly said, and put a hand to her abdomen. The muscles there were tight, and she felt them contract under her hand before the pain hit her. "Ow!" she cried, more fervently this time. "Oh, my god," she said, shock blindsiding her. "Oh, my god. Um…oh…ow! ….Jess. I've got to call Jess."

The adults in their lives had chipped in to buy Jess a pager, in case she went into labor while he was in school or at the diner. She groped for the phone with the pager number taped on it, and fought to remember the code for labor. "Was it 911? Did we pick something that cliché?" She dialed in the message, and closed the laptop, but not before saving the file.

"Oh, god," she said, and put her head down on the desk in lieu of putting her head between her legs. "Oh, god, Jess, hurry!"

She didn't wait for five minutes until Jess crashed into the apartment at a dead run. "Lori!" he cried, then breathed a sigh of relief when she raised her head. "Don't do that to me!" he shouted. "You page me you're in labor and I find you slumped over! That's not a good thing to do to a person!"

She could see stress clearly on his face, and didn't snap at him for yelling at her, though she dearly wanted to. "Please, Jess, get me to the hospital."

"Right," he said. "I'll call Luke, and he'll give you a ride to the hospital."

"Us, Jess," she said. "I'm not going alone. You're coming with me."

"Right," he said. "Right, I knew that. Uh, I'm gonna call Luke."

He did so, and delivered the short sentence of, "It's time, get over here," before running into their bedroom to grab the bag they'd pre-packed. He checked his watch four times before Luke arrived, with Lorelai following close on his bumper in her car. "Lori, you go with Lorelai," Luke said. "I trust her car a lot more than I trust the truck."

Lori nodded, but almost refused to let go of Jess' arm as he half led, half supported her to the car and put her into the back seat as if she were made of glass. "I'll see you in just a few minutes," he told her, and kissed the back of her hand. Then he closed the door and hurried over to the truck. "Drive," he commanded, even before he'd fastened his seat belt.

Lorelai stopped in the emergency parking zone, and had Lori out of the car and into a wheelchair by the time Jess and Luke found a parking space. Her bag was hooked over one of the handles on the chair, and bounced against her back as she was wheeled into the lobby.

"Jess, you take her. I need to move my car." She looked at Lori and smoothed her hair. "I'll be right back, okay, baby?" she asked softly. Lori nodded, her eyes big as another contraction hit, much quicker than the last, and she nodded. As Lorelai turned away she gave both men a look that clearly said, "Screw up and die."

Jess took over wheeling her toward the maternity ward. He was glad he'd scouted the hospital out ahead of time and knew just where to go.

In short order, but what felt like an eternity, she was on a gurney heading towards the delivery room. "This is happening fast," Luke said, running alongside. "Well, this is fast? Isn't this fast? Should it be this fast? Is this a good thing or what?" He was babbling, and probably annoying the nurse who lead the way to the delivery room.

"It's perfectly fine," she told him calmly. "Now, I need you too to get into scrubs, unless you're not staying for the delivery."

Luke abruptly turned very green, and turned to Lori. "Uh…"

"Go on, Luke," Lori said as gently as she could, panting and trying to do her Lamaze breathing. "It's okay. Really. Just, tell my mom where we are."

None of them noticed she'd called Lorelai her mom for the first time. There was too much else going on to worry about semantics. Another contraction hit, and the nurse cautioned, "Don't push. It's not time yet."

"But…this…hurts," Lori panted, sweat and tears mingling as they ran down her cheeks. "Where's Jess?" she asked; she knew she was whining and didn't care, she wanted Jess and her mother with her.

"Right here," he said. He climbed into bed behind her, helping to support her back as she sat up. She grabbed one of his hands and held on tight, and she felt him wince. "Sorry," she gasped, then squeezed even harder as another contraction hit. 

"Don't be," Jess said, seemingly calmer after changing. His voice was a soothing presence in a world of pain, and she felt him kissing and rubbing her shoulders as best he could with his free hand.

She groaned loudly when the next, and strongest yet, contraction hit. She was sure—in the part of her mind that could concentrate on something other than the baby—that she felt bones grinding in Jess' hand beneath her fingers, but he never stopped whispering encouragement in her ear.

Lori didn't notice Lorelai was in the room until someone took her other hand. She turned her head, slightly dazed. "Mom?" she asked, and squeezed Lorelai's hand with the next contraction.

"Ooh, honey, mommy's gonna need that hand again someday," Lorelai said, wincing, but not letting Lori release her.

"It's nearly time, dear," the doctor said, and Lori vaguely noticed that she'd just arrived. "Now, with this next contraction I want you to push. It will hurt—" 

Lorelai snorted, "No kidding."

The doctor raised an eyebrow and continued, "But I want you to be strong and keep pushing."

"It _will_ be worth it," Lorelai said.

"Promise?" Lori groaned.

"I promise," Lorelai nodded. "Now, brace for it."

The contraction hit, and with a long wail Lori pushed for all she was worth, squeezing her mother and Jess' hands.

Finally, she collapsed against Jess, who continued to murmur endearments in her ear. Tears of happiness started coursing down her cheeks when she heard the baby begin to wail. "Jess?" she asked.

"I'm here," he said. He sounded a bit choked up himself. "I'll always be here."

"What is it?" she demanded, turning her head and blurry vision towards the moving white coats.

"You have a baby girl," the doctor told them. "Dad, you want to do the honors?"

Jess shook his head. "I think Lorelai should do it," he said. "I'm very comfortable where I am." He turned to look at Lorelai. "Well?"

Lorelai looked as if she were going to give in to the tears filling her eyes. "Lori?" she asked, and when she saw her daughter nod she got to her feet to cut the umbilical cord of her grandchild.

The doctors washed her and bundled her up in a light rose-pink blanket, then brought her to be presented to her parents. "Jess?" she asked as she held the little bundle in her arms. She felt his arms come up under hers, supporting both her and the baby. She was grateful, because her arms felt like cooked noodles.

"I'm right here," he repeated.

"Jess, we have a little girl," she whispered, and turned to face him. There were two tear tracks drying on his face. She kissed him, gently, softly. "I love you," she told him, resting her forehead against his.

"I love you, too," he told her. Then he looked down at his daughter. "I love you, too, baby," he said.

"What're you naming her?" the doctor asked, watching the pair with interest. It wasn't often they saw teen mothers and fathers like them.

Jess glanced over at Lorelai. "Well, there is a family name we were considering. But it would get too confusing. Even more so, anyway," he added, smiling.

"So, if it was going to be a girl, we settled on Amelia Lorelai Mariano. She's named after my mothers," she added, and saw Lorelai bite her lip again to fight back tears. "Besides, if she wants to carry on the family name later on, she can change it." 

"Let's hope she doesn't carry on the family tradition," Lorelai said.

"I don't know," Jess said. "You were sixteen. Lori was seventeen. At least if she does it she'll be eighteen." Even though he joked, the thought of it was enough to turn his stomach. "She better not, though," he added, and scowled briefly down at his daughter. Then she waved her arm, and he reached to touch her hand. "Oh, god," he said. "She's so tiny. Look at her little fingers." He paused, tilting his head to the side consideringly. "She's going to have your eyes, lucky little girl."

Luke half-opened the door, hand over his eyes. "Can I come in?" he asked, and Lorelai jumped out of her chair to give him a huge hug. He hugged her back, looking no little surprised.

"It's a girl," Lorelai told him, still with her arms around him as she beamed. "It's a little baby girl, and her name is Amelia Lorelai Mariano."

"Jess, you do realize this means we'll be out-numbered?" Luke said. Nevertheless, he bent down to inspect his grandniece. "Wow," he said quietly. "She's so tiny."

"Didn't feel tiny," Lori scoffed, then yawned hugely.

"All right, everyone," the doctor said, and began motioning Lorelai and Luke out. "You, too, dad," the doctor added. "Let's give the new mom time to rest."

"I love you," Jess said, and climbed out of the bed. He bent down to take Amelia from Lori and kissed her gently. "I'll see you in a little while, okay?"

"Okay," Lori murmured, lying back on the bed.

Jess followed the doctor out with Amelia still in his arms. "She's okay, right?" he asked. "She's two weeks early. That's not bad, is it?"

"Not if she was fully developed," the doctor said, smiling slightly at his anxiety. "And she looks perfectly healthy to me. Of course, we have to run all tests on her that we do on all the other babies." She gestured for Jess to give Amelia to the nurse standing by.

Jess looked down at Amelia. "It's just…hard to put her down, you know?"

The doctor smiled. "You'll be at home before you know it," she promised.

  


~*~

  


Lori entered their apartment for the first time with Amelia in her arms. "And this is your–and our–home," she told her daughter. She knew Amelia probably couldn't process all this yet, being only three full days old, but it was a joy to be able to show her life to her daughter. "Now," she added. "Your daddy and I have this room here. But I'll explain all that to you when you're older."

"Much, much, much older," Jess said firmly. "Like, thirties, older."

"Your daddy has such helpful comments, doesn't he?" she cooed.

"Your daddy," Jess said pointedly to Amelia, "is the one doing all the heavy lifting, isn't he?"

"It's not that bad," Lori said, speaking directly to him. "Anyway," she said, turning back to the wide-eyed baby in her arms. "When you're old enough, you're going to have this room here. It's already all fixed up for you, too. But you're going to be sleeping right next to mommy's side of the bed for a while."

"Separation anxiety already?" Jess asked, putting down the bag from her hospital bag, doubly full with the presents Amelia had gotten from Tali, Janet and Larry--who all promised to visit in the near future--not to mention Lorelai, who had already spoiled her granddaughter rotten. There was even one from Sookie and the other employees at the Inn.

"Nah. There's no medical benefit to sleeping apart," she told him, ever the voice of authority. "And it's been proven that mothers who sleep in the same room or even the same bed as their babies get just as much sleep as those who sleep apart. Not to mention the baby won't cry as long if its mother is in the same room."

Jess smiled at the litany, because he really didn't object overmuch to having Amelia in the same room. "There's the fact hog I know and love," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her neck. "Yes, Millie," Jess said, looking at his daughter from over Lori's shoulder. "Never, ever forget that your parents love each other."

"And that we love you," Lori finished.

"Okay," Jess said, removing himself from the scene with difficulty. "Daddy's gotta go to work now. You gonna come by tonight?"

"What, like there's food here?"

"Point taken," he said, and kissed her briefly on the lips.

"Bye," Lori said, taking Amelia's hand and making her wave. She laughed at the slightly bewildered expression on her baby's face." We are going to have fun, little girl," she said, bending to nuzzle her daughter. "Just you and me and daddy makes three." She admitted she might still be a little loopy on the drugs they'd given her after the birth, but she also thought it would be the natural euphoria.

Her life was just beginning, and it looked like it was going to be a good ride.


	18. Epilogue

**_

Epilogue

_**

Six Years Later:

"Mom, do I have to wear this dress for much longer?" little Amelia asked in a slightly sulky tone.

"But don't you think it's pretty?" her mother asked, holding her daughter on her lap, crushing the carefully puffed skirts on her white gown.

"Yeah, it's pretty," her daughter conceded. "But I don't want to wear it any more."

"All right," Lori said. "Go find your Nana, and tell her you want to change. She'll walk you home."

"Yay!" Amelia quickly jumped off Lori's lap and began weaving through the crowd in the square, searching for her grandmother.

"Squirt getting squirmy?" Jess murmured into her ear.

"She really doesn't like dresses," Lori laughed. "I can't say I blame her. The way she moves around, skirts aren't the best clothing choice for her."

"She has to get her energy from someplace," he said. "I can't imagine where it is, though."

"Just because you're lazy doesn't mean our daughter is," Lori said with much affection in her tone.

"I'm not lazy," Jess said, trying to muster up some form of anger or indignity at that, but he was too happy. "And just to prove it, are you up for another spin around the dance floor?" he asked, grabbing Lori's hand.

"We've already danced all but this one," she protested, though only slightly. Jess had taken dance lessons on the sly from Miss Patty just for today, and she hated to disappoint him. She stood readily enough.

"And the bride and groom take to the dance floor once more," Taylor announced cheerily. 

"Tell me why he's our DJ again," Jess asked. "He's not going to play any music we like."

"He's not the DJ," Lori said. "He just won't let Mom near the stereo."

Jess nodded in comprehension. "I guess he's still upset that she decided to have a dance instead of the movie night."

"I think that didn't bother him as much as the mosh pits and slam dancing."

"But it was so much fun! Besides, that was three years ago. You'd think he'd be over that by now."

The two danced in content silence. Over Jess' shoulder, Lori could see the gazebo. "I can't believe how all this has turned out," she murmured, thinking back on the day the two of them had sat in the gazebo and she'd told him the news that had changed both their lives. "I don't even want to think about any alternative path," she added, "because this couldn't have turned out any better than it has."

Jess squeezed her momentarily. He smiled when he saw Amelia swinging between Luke and Lorelai, obviously chatting up a storm. The adults were grinning at her fondly, and then smiling broadly at each other. "When are they not going to be oblivious?" he asked Lori rhetorically, knowing she would see them, too. "It's obvious to everyone in town that they're crazy about each other." 

Lori sighed heavily. "We all just have to wait until they realize it for themselves," she said. "Who knows how long that'll take?" 

Jess sighed and dismissed his uncle's love life from his mind. He went back to happier thoughts. "You know, Lori, I'm glad you insisted on waiting until Amelia could participate in the wedding. Even if she is a squirt, she's our squirt, and she deserved to be a part of this."

Lori smiled against his tuxedo. "I know," she said, trying not to sound smug. "Just because you're a published author doesn't mean you're smarter than me."

Jess sighed, but he smiled as well. "Look, the contract isn't even finalized yet. Let's not start counting our chickens before they hatch." They were silent for a while, swaying to the not-so-horrible music and enjoying the party.

"You know what?" Lori said suddenly. 

"What?" 

She smiled broadly up at him and kissed him gently before saying, "It's another beginning." 

"How many of those are we going to have?" Jess asked her, grinning at the thought. 

"A lifetime."

**

The End

** **Author's Note:** Hi everyone. Thank you all so much! I can't believe it's over! *sniffs* I'm really sorry there's not more to the story, but I thought it had been told. Who knows? There might be a sequel coming soon. But, not to worry, I am working on other things. Not all of them are Gilmore Girls, but there are some of those fics in there. I have a sequel to Welcome to Stars Hollow and On Her Own Two Feet in the works, as well as the next story in The Story Saga (The Beginning, The Middle, and The End). 

Thank you all so much. The reception of this story has been beyond my wildest dreams. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you've all read this and enjoyed it. 

Now, onto the thank yous: Thank you, first, to my lovely betas, Jenn and Emily, who gave me the confidence to post this story while they were making it better. Thanks to my sister, who planted the idea in my head a long, long time ago (hey, in a fandom, ten months is quite a long time...). And finally, thanks to all my readers, and all my reviewers. You're all wonderful people.


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